
.(^ 



Mh3;i n\i2^ 



wm 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





1 1 III Hill nil nil II 
011 836 842 3 ♦ 



t)^»DmAlfCeA 




% 



VIEW OF THE WHoIe GROUND:" 



BEING THE WHOLE 



eORRESPOXBEXCE 



BETWEEN 



Mr. JOHN M. M'CARTY and General A. T. MASON. 



\ 



^ 




DISTRICT OF COI.UMBIA-....S£l>TEMIi£B.*^.1818, 



V 



' i 



7 







i 



/ « 



TO THE PUBLICi. 



In April 1817, at the Loudoun election, my quarrel with Gen. 
Mason first commenced. In requiring my oath (on that occa- 
sion) with regard to my qualifications as a voter, he acted not 
only in compliance with the usages of the country, hut in con- 
formity to a constitutional right.. ..and consequently I had no 
inclination to complain of the act itself; nor should [ have noti- 
ced his condtictf had it procee<led from a mild and amiable man. 
But being well aware of his bullying and dictatorial character, 
and conceiving it possible that he might have some design other 
than that ai fairly and honestly invalidating my vote, I instantly 
applied to him such epithets and such language as at once placed 
me on the defensive, and induced every man present to beliete 
that I should be challenged. Instead of calling on me, however, 
as was expected, he, to the astonishment of all, expressed him- 
self satisfied with his childish retortSt and the subject lay dor- 
mant many months. Mortified, at length, by , public " impres- 
sionSf" he seemed determined to wrest his character from its 
merited contempt....and (as the following pages will show) ^e 
twice renewed the controversy, and as often siistained discomfiture. 
To have reduced my antagonist to a level to which no gentleman 
can ever descend without degradation, is, I confess, a pleasing 
reflection. — But I should not impose upon the public a history of 
our several controversies, nor should I have made illustrative 
notes, but that the publications of one contest have been formerly 
comprised in a panrphlet and sold at the office of the Genius of 
Liberty. Whether the perquisites are taken by Gen. Mason as 
a reward for his chaste compositions — whether they are applied 
to the paymeiit of materials and other expenses incurred by the 
publication— or whether they are intended as a "sop in the pan" 
for his annotator, I shall not pretend to say. 

JOHN M. M^CABrTY, 

September SO, 1816^, 



iOORRESPOlVDENCE, ^c. 

[Nu. 1.] 

Selma, 8tli Nov. 181 r. 
Sir, , 

You wUI no doubt be surprised at this address; F will brif^fly 
explain the cause of it : the altci cation which ocmrred bet\\ee:i us 
at the hustings in Loudoun last sprin.i?, lias, in order to injure my 
character, lieen basely misrepresented by Heiskfll, the editor of 
the Wincliester Gazette a fellow who knows that he can calum- 
niate with impunity, since like a certain animal he is proterted by 
the atmosphere which his own filth throws around him. M'lutyre, 
with whose name 1 would not soil this sheet, but that it already 
contains Heiskell's, joins of course in the cry. It is to correct 
that misrepresentation that I now address vou ; I cotild correct it 
by appealing to others, but. I make the a[)pf*al to you because your 
character is as nnicli involved as miie : your name has been used 
to sanction a falsehood ; and notwithstandin.a; the harsh and inju- 
rious lan,e;uaj^e which we directed against each other on Uie oc- 
casion just mentioned, I cannot believe that you will permit }our 
name to be employed to subserve the purposes of falsehood and de- 
famation. It is attempted to produce the impression that I shrunk 
from the contest with you ; your name is mentioned to strengthen 
this stn^^ement. You well know that any such statcmei^t is utter- 
ly falae. I never shrunk from a contest with any man, unless he 
uas such a despicable wretch as the edifor of the Win( hester 
Gazette, with wliom any contact wotild be contamination. I have 
greatly mistaken your character if you do not contradict the im- 
pression which that slanderous villain has attempted to create, or 
enable me to do it on your authority. 

Your obedient servant, 

ARM IS IE AD T. MASON. 

P. S. Not knowing whether you are in Alexandria or Williams? 
burg, i have directed a letter to each place. 

Mr. John M^Carty. ■ ' 



[No. 2.] 

"Williams BUKG, November IStb, I8ir. 
Sm, 

Yours of tlic 8th inst. has this moment reached me. ti duty to 
jnyself, urges the unequivocal declaration, that 1 never did enlist 



4 V 

the scurrility or sanrtion the ralumny of any printer or printer*s 
devil against General Mason, or any other man.* 
Your obediet t servant, 

J. M. M'CARTY. 
P. S. If General Mason feels disposed to publish the above, he 
has my approbation. 
General A. T. Mason, 



[No. 3.] 

TO THE PUBLTC. 

I publish the subjoined letter,f with this brief remark, thztevery 
man who, directly or indirectly, avowedly or tacitly,:}: lends his 
name, or .sjives his countenance, in any manner or form, to the 
insinuation, which some sroundrels have propagated, that I shrunk 
from tiic contest with Mr. John M'Cart} at the last Loudoun elec- 
tion, or who would, in any way, attempt to produce that impres- 
sioti, is a vile calumniator. 

ARMISTEAD T. MASOK 

^ovemHr S,9th, 1817. 



[No. 4.] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

Seeing that Gen. Mason has published my letter unaccompani- 
ed by his ow n, ♦«! publish the subjoined letter.s,'*|| being all tJie com- 
muttications that ever transpired between Gen. Mason and myselfj, 
« with this brief remark, that every man" may distinctly under- 
stand why I wrote tp Gen. Mason, to what part of his letter I 
re,i>Uod, and to what part I did not reply — This is my valedic- 
tory- to the public on the subject. 

JOHN M. M'CARTY. 

Williamshirg, Dec. 13, 1817". 

=* If I had alludiMl to the calumn}' of which lie complains, J 
surely should not have said that I never sanctioned that cahnnvy 
Rgainst *' any other njan ;" for vvhat had <« any other man" ta 
«!(> with it ? I'lie politeness of his letter, added to its complimen- 
tary style, entitled it to some, answer, but I could not in truth con- 
tradict the '* impression" promulgated by Messrs. M'Intyre and 
Hciskell, although it is well known I had no agency in <hrir re- 
maik'5. My letter contained all that I could give him, and I gave 
liim permission to pul)lish it, without the moptt distant idea that he 
\s o.uUl deem it satisfactory, or that it would ever appear in print. 

f Loiter No. 2. J. M. M*G. t 

\ His comment on the publication of my letter sliews that le 
was not insensible to its real meQ,ning. J. Mo M^Go . 

(1 Letters No. 1 and 2,^ 



[No 5.] 
TO TOE PUBI.ie. 

The publication of m\ letter to Mr. John M*Cany was entire- 
ly iiu( cccssary. ar.d it was therefore tl at 1 did not ptrb.'isii it. But 
Icarc I'othiHt;" aliout it. His to me, lie expressly antliorised me 
to publish, or I most certriinly wculd not have published it. 

In mine I stated tliat a base calumny lir.d been proj)a£^ated a- 
gainst me, and that his iiame had been used to give currency and 
sst.reng'th to it. It xyas tlie use mad? of his name that induce'd mo 
to notice the calumny at all. And 1 applied to him to say thathc 
did not autlsorize hiT name to be u.'^ed to sanction that calumny* 
an(i thus *ho contradict the impression" which the proj);igators of' 
it were endeavuriiig to pi-oduce by the use cf his name, "or to 
enable me to do it upon his authority." He expressly declares 
that "liene\er did sanction tlie calomnv of an} printer against- 
ine." This was a direct answer to my application, it was all I 
iiskc(^ of him. 

If, liowever, [ have Rusunileritond him, or there is any part of 
my letter to which he designedly failed to reply, and he means 
any thing by tliat failure, it will be lime enough, wlien he shall 
explain his meaning, if he has any, for me tj reply to it.* But 
he most certainly does not mean to intiniate that 1 sljrunk from 
a contest with him on the occasion alluded to ; because such an 
intimation wnui*! be notoriously inconsistent witii trntl), as aa 
hundred livii;g 'witnesses can testify. And Mr. John M'Carty 
himself also well knows, that any such intimation, made in any 
way, by any man, is ijifamously false and dishunorable ; and for 
that 'eason he suiely never meant to make it ; or to lend it thft 
saiictim of his name when made by men who are destitute of honor 
and I'cgardless of truth. 

^ The coiislruction which (with characteristic impudence and 
turpitude) has been put upon his ••' valedic t'lry" in the NYashing- 
toniaii, as well as the wilful misrepresr^ijtation, in that paper, of , 
"what passed between us at the hustings, comes from a source 
whi. h puts the seal of infamy uptnrit, and adn.oni.shes me that it 
would be degrading to any gentleman to notice it. 1 shall there- 
fore treat it, as I do every thing which comes from that source, 
with sovereign contem[>t. 

In conchi-ion, I can ojily repeat, on this subject, what I have 
already said, ♦< that every man who, directly or indirectly, avow- 
edly or tacitly, lends his name, or gives liis countenance, in any 
manner or ffU'in, to the insiiiuation uhich some scoundiels have 
pro[)agat<M!, that I shrunk from the contest witli Mr. J'ihn M'Car- 

. * 'i his threat, made by a man wlio had always been liei:e\e(i 
aduellivtin i.rinciule, may be regarded as a substantial pledge 
to challenge, and not as a* pledge '-to reply tu it" by fish-womaii' 
abuse, * j. M. ^^C i 



ij at the last Loudoun election, or who would, in any way, at- 
lemptto j>iodiice thai impression, is a vile calumniator." 

It is not difficult >o j)prceJve the drift of the despicable and cold 
blooded assassins, whose foily and wickedness were the cause of 
the open rupture between Mr. Mercer and myself. Having failed 
in their object on that occasioii. they are now with truly demoniac 
apirit, seekini^ to involve me witli somebody else, in the tmpe that 
my life may fall a sacrifice. This would be a glorious triumph for 
th'-m. it would suit (he base envy and malignity of their souls. 
And I can, in brief, assure tiiese wretches, once for all, that it is 
the only triumph of that kind tijey have any chance of obtaining 
over me, even if they should be able to lind a man, with the repu- 
tation of a gentleman, depraved enough to become the willing w- 
stniment of their hellish purpose. 

AUMISTEAD T. MASON. 

Selmcij 22d Beceniher, 1817. . . 



[No. 6.] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

Tiie publication of General Mason of the 53d December, im- 
poses upon me the unpleasant task of speaking of myself in a news- 
paper ; therefore I pray tiie indulgence of the public. I had 
thought t'lat my answer to General Mason, connected with the 
explaisation I had given of it, left no doubt of my meaning, t 
/"([uaily despise the bully or the boaster, and I have a contempt 
ibr a " war of v.ords." It certaifily wa.. the expectation of others, 
as well as myself, that General Mijso.i would have called on me 
for honorable reparation, for the language I used to him at the 
Loudoun election. My respect Tor liii^ public feeling makes it my 
duty to say that I never sought a q-iarrel with any man. I shall 
jiot notice the foul and contempiil i^ trash M'hich his interna! strife 
fnas thrown before tlm public." JOHN M. M'CARTY. 

Brown*s Hotel, Alexa}i,uria, D:.-. of CoL Jfun. 21, 1818« 



[No. 7.] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

It can now no longer be doubted that the infamous calumnies 

* At this stage of the controversy, Messrs. Ludwell L'» and 
iGeorge Graliani, offered their friendly mediation " to effecruate, 
jf ]>()ssii)!e, that return of mutual harmony so desirable." lie ac- 
cepted tiie mediation, and thus endeavoured to be placed on a 
friendly footing wiih me, and that too at the very time his pub- 
lication was in the pj'ess pronouncing uie an " hired assassin,'? 
a f* desperado," 53:c. &,c, J. M. M«C. 



7 

wliicli liavc been published against me, under the sanction of Mr. 
John M'C'arty's name, have been connived at, if not ^ecivtly en- 
couraged bv him. It were FUjjerfluous to add, that bv the very 
act of avowing his acquiescence in those calumni<\e, he has render- 
ed himself obnoxious to all that I havesaid, and repeated,, of every 
msL'i who was so base and unprincipled as in any way to partici- 
pate in them. But as he appears to be a litflc dull of apprehen- 
sion on this subject, no doubt for the reason gi\ en in the proverb, 
that "there are none so blind as tliose who will not see," I shall 
be more explicit with liim in the progress of this address. 

In his recent publication, which is dictated by the most dishon- 
orable and dastardly motives, and which is false and base from be- 
ginning to end, he says, " it certaiidy was expected by otliers, sa 
well as himself, that I would have called on him for honorable re- 
paration for the language he used to me at the Loudoun election." 
I give him all the credit be can claini for havijig acted like an ac- 
complished blackguard aiid bully on that occasicm. But he seems 
to haxe forgotten the chastisement he recei«ed on the spot, and 
the OTily one which such a fellow deserved. He seems to have for- 
gotten that for his impertinence, I, in the presence of a crowded 
court-house, pronounced him to be an impertinent scoundrel : And 
that for his indecent and abusive language, and for taking an 
oath,* which ahme ought to disiionor him forever, 1, in the pre- 
sence of the same audience, consisting of more than a hundred 
persons, publicly pronounced him to be an infamous rascal, a per- 
jured villain, ^c,f And after all that, he now says he expected me 
to call on him for Ixmorable reparation for the language used on 
that occasio!!. If he in reality indulged such an expectation, of 
which however I do not believe erne word, he must have strange 
idoas of what honor requires ; he must be a stranger to the princi- 
ple, and this indeed is the best apology that can be offered for his 
recent most dislionorable conduct. 

At the time of the quarrel between Mr. John M'Carty and my- 
self. I was an unmarried man, and before I left the hustings, and 
after I came down, I announced without reserve, and to the Rev. 
John Mines, am^-rig ■ tliers, that I did not feel myself aggrieved by 
whiit had passed, as I had fnlly balanced the account with Mr. 
John ArC;irt> , and that I should not prosecute the quarrel f;.rther : 
but that if Mr. John M'Carty thought to acquire a reputation at 
iny expe' s , by challe'ging me, I would disappoint hius, fori 
woold most certainly fight him, [jrovided he challenged me v hile 
I remained single; observing at the same time to Mr. Mines, 

* He had previous to this contested my vote in coiigr.ss, bo- 
fore the committee of elections, who unanimously decided tiiat it 
was as pure as any on the poll. J. M. M'C. 

I This language was never heard of until it appeared in the 
Genius of Liberty . what he really said on that occasion was 
only a puerile retprt. J. M, M'C, 



that a feingle man might, but that a marneU pnan ought not to 
£ght a duel. This determination on my part was publicly known, 
and I have no doubt that Mr. John M'Carty liimself was well ap- 
prized of it; and that it had no little influence upftn his conduct 
on that occasion, and upon his subsequent conduct. ' 

That he came from Alexandria, his place of residence, prede- 
termined to provoke a quarrel with me, under tiie expectation of 
recommending himself by it to the notice and favor of the Federal 
party, I have now no doubt. But after having gone that far, he 
thought it prudent to halt, discovering, to borrow a simile from 
ene of his friends, that he *^had got the wrong sow by the ear." 
Finding that he could not, by fair means, acquire the reputation 
he had sought at my expense, he lends his name to the jbasest 
misrepresentation of our quarrel, by which it was attempted to 
produce the impression that I had shrunk fri)m him in that quar- 
rel. What would have been the condu t of any truly honourable 
man upon seeing his name employed by unprincipled scoundrels 
to subserve the purposes of faction, of falsehood a. d defamation ? 
He would at once, promptly and voluntarily, have forbidden his 
name to be thus employed. What was the conduct of Mr. John 
M'Carty ? He silently acquiesced in the use made of his name. 
And why? because he thought in that way to acquire the reputa- 
tion ^^llich he had been disappointed in obtaining at the hustings. A 
man who can thus, like a thief, attempt to steal a reputation, must 
indeed want one, and he must moreover feel that he cannot ac- 
quire one in an lionest and manly waj. Observing his apparent 
acquiescence, I wrote to him to know whether he sanctioned the 
calumnies which his name had been em[doycd to strengtlien. He 
replied most distinctly and ^^unequivocallifi** to use his own rx- 
prossitm, that «' he never did sanction the calumny of any printer 
against me;" and he authorized nie to publish liis letter. I did so. 
IVhat then is his conduct ? Regardless of the solemn obligations of 
private confidence, which are held sacred and invi-dahle by all 
honorable men, he without my consent or knowledge, treacherous- 
ly publislies my letter, and involves me in a vexatious lawsuit 
with a dirty fellow, for whom 1 suppose he is also to be a good 
witness. He mDrcovcr accompanied the public ation of my letter 
with some remarks of his own, in which he endeavors to explain 
away the obvious ujeaning of his answer, hoping by the ambigui- 
ty of his remarks to support the attempt already made to produce 
the impression on the minds of those who were unacquainted with 
the case, that I had really shrunk from him on the occasion allu- 
ded to. U then became my duty again to denounce in most une- 
quivocal terms every man who in any way would uttempt to create 
that impression, and to point them more directly at Mr. John 
M'Carty, provided he had participated in that attempt. Those 
terms however could not aj)ply,nor were they intended to apply to 
him, unless he had participated in that attempt. His having taken 
them to himself proves his guilt. And stung l>y the language 
which ills own vanity and folly had brought upon him, lie sets 



nut from Willlamsbiirc:, two htindpcd miles distaiif, to seek re- 
vcn.Ejcfor what lie so jtistly merited. He had already declared that 
he had published his <* valedictory/"' And if after that he pretend- 
ed to be aggrieved, what was left for him ? Let men of true couraa^e 
and really honorabl'^ feelings and principles answer. But the. 
length of the Journey and some sober reflections on the way, and 
i must be permitted to add, a knowledge of the man with whom 
he had to deal, tempered his rage, and by the time he readied 
Alexandria he concluded it was most prudent (and prudence is the 
better part of valor) to try another silly valedictory, and to pre- 
sent himself in Leesburg, as if panting for battle, at a time when 
he well knew that my oath of office and other imperious circum- 
stances would prevent me from taking any otlioi' notice of him 
than this: which is indeed the only notice t!iat under any circum- 
stances, I ought to take of him. Yet this man (if you believe hiin) 
** despises the bully and the boaster."'^ 

In his second «'valedictory" he does not say, hut insinuates, as 
if afraid ef the assertion, that I shrunk from him in the contest 
at the Loudoun election. The insinuation is false, infamously 
false, as Mr. John M'Carty who makes it, wdl knows; and I 
am not casuist enough to distinguish any moral difference between 
a false insinuation and a false assertion. The man who can for 
any purpose or under any influence, descend to either, is a liar. 
The former, however, is the more despicable crime of the two, if 
there be any difference, because it betrays a sneaking, cowardly 
disposition to do in an underhand, clandestine njanner what it is 
afraid to do openly and in the face of day. 

It isd'ieto candor, however, on this occasion, to stale my convic- 
tion that if Mr. John M'Carty had been left to himself, liis whole 
conduct would have been different. I have already said, and I 
repeat that I have no doubt he came from Alexandria predeter- 
mined to provoke a quarrel with me. But I am also convinced 
that he was incited and encouraged to do so by a set of scoundrels, 
who^ feeling the inclination, wanted the courage to do it them- 
selves. I am equally well convinced that he intended his answer 
to my letter as a full and satisfactory one; that he meant to with- 
hold no'hing, nor to insinuate any thing against me; and that 
altliough he had been willing to acquire a littl ■ reputation, in an 
underhand and clandestine way, by an acquiescence in the ca- 
lumnies which had been published under the sanction of his name, 
yet when he was awakened to the impropriety, and perhaps the 
danger of such a course, he gave the ex!)lanation asked. 

But it so happened that just about the time tliat I received and 
published his answer, Mr. Mercer, who had until then been re- 
lied upon as the champion of his part» , gave way. And the men 
who had been pricking him on, mortified and chagrined at the 
disgrace whicft he lias brotjght upon them, and their party, ea- 
gerly caught at the opportunity of widening the breach between 
Mr. John M'Carty and myself, in the hope that be would wipe 



40 

off t!)P dishonor oniiedastarilly conduct of Mr. Mercer, wTio after 
all his vaporin?, had so vvocfiilly disappointed the hiarh expecta- 
tions \vhirh had heen indulsjod^ of him, and which Ms whole con- 
ihict had been calculated and desis;ned to exciie. Flushed with this 
hope, they doithtless did not fail to ply Mr. John M'Carty well; 
and he, from laxity of principle and excessive vanity and folly, rea- 
dily jra^einto tlie plot, and surrenderin.t^ himself into their hands, 
bf,< J'.me their dupe and instriimejit. — and he is now pitted as the 
shahr-bag i>n.he party. It cannot be denied that they have made 
a very judicious selection, for he is of no importance to society, 
and happen what may. he will not be missed by any man or set of 
mru: and he is as likely to accomplisli i heir object (if his nerves 
do not fail him) as any other desperado that they could pick up. 
But it is impossible to reconcile such conduct with the principles 
of hoiipr ; and however Mr. John MT/arty may flatter himself 
with the favor of the federalists for the service expected from 
him,, he may rest assured that tlie honorable men of all parties, 
and the impartial men of all the worhl, will never regard him as 
any thins; better than an hired assassin. *\As we love the trea- 
son, wliile we hate the traitor,^" so those who might rejoice at the 
act whi'h he is incited to commit, would detest him for the com- 
mission of it ; and even the conspirators agains tmy life, who are 
using him to execute their designs, would laugh at his folly, and 
as far as their hearts are capable of it, despise his depravity if the 
deed was done. 

I cannot help feeling greatly humbled to find myself compelleil 
to treat, in ami respect, as an equal, a man Avho has permitted him-, 
self to l)e used as the vile instrument of the basest and meanest of 
men. It must b^ acknowledged by all men of all parties, that 
there is no one point of comparison b(itwcen Mr. John M'^Carty 
and myself. And I might without censure, in conformity with the 
earnest entreaties of niy friends, at once assert the inequality and 
disclaim all further contt-ntion with him. And, but that when en- 
tirely ignorant of his real character, and estimating him as a man 
of lionor and ti-uth, t admitte«l him to the rank of a gentlemati, I 
Mould now class him, as he descves to be classed, with M"'Intyro 
and Heiskell. with whom he has associated himself, and leave him 
th?re. 1 have howover taken difierent grouml, and having taken 
H, f will not desert it. I have agreed to regard him as an equal 
JO one respect, and S n/nv disdain to take any exceptions to his 
chiu'acter, no matter with how murh justice and propriety I might 
take them. All I aim at now is to satisfy the world that 1 am 
»vit the jiggressor in this affair,* and that I am acting only in 
seU-defonce: of (hat I ;.m well satisfied mvself. and with that 
conviction I can meet anv consk|uences, be tl:ey what they may, 
Avithout feat' of s^lf rppr-<;a('h. 

^* ilc fays he is not liie " agcressor in tiiis affair.'"" He must 
cousc?pie»itly, tlien. be the aggrieved man; and he therefore never . 
! ouhl have expected r challenge from me. J. M. M'C. 



11 

As Mr. John M<Carty profcssi»s "a eontcmpt for a war of 
words," I shall I'xprrt to hear uo move from him in that tcay.,. 
partinilarly as it is " an unpleasant task for him to speak of him- 
seli." And that this should be an unph^asant task to a man of 
Ills charat tor, I am n(tt at all surjirised, iC he means to speak the 
truth. But we have abundant evidence that Mr. John M'Carty 
could surmount that difficulty. ..and we should doubtless ha\e a 
third valedictory ** from him, if it wasjiot f(!r his contemjit for a 
war of woids,'* and his great preference for a war of a different 
/cind, which he has so satisfactorily deriionstiated — by his insinna- 
tions. 

I should do great injustice to my feelings, were I to conclude 
this address without expressing my deep regret in being thus 
compelled to publish my oj)inioii of Mr. John M'Carty. For 
liis brothers and all his family I have ever cherislied the feelings 
of a friend and relntive : and the necessity imposed on me of 
using language that cannot be otherwise than painful to them, is 
extremely painful to me. But whatever may be the fniftl retult 
of this conti'oversy, 1 n;ost sincerely hope that it uiil not be |)cr- 
mitted to affect the amicable relations which have hitherto sub- 
sisted between us and our families. 

ARMISTEAD T. MASON. 

Selma, January S\st,\S18. 



[No. 8.] 

TO THE PLBLrC. 

T cannot condescend to reply,, in detail, to the publication of t^ 
man, whose late /nm//a?/imous conduct has sunk him heveath the 
scorn and pity of mankind. 1 refei-tiie public, however, to the 
altercation at the hustings — to the correspondence — and to the 
publications that have passed between General Mason and myself 
— and leave that public to decide, whether, if he had possessed 
the feelings and principles of a gentleman, lie would i\ot rather 
liave deiiianrjed of me lionorable reparation for injuries so dc'eplu 
affecting his honor as to have giyipn rise to his late |)ublication, 
than to jjave sought redress by vulgar misrepresentation. Gene- 
ral Mason's refusing to call on hie for the indignity I offered him 
at the hustings, and also for the insults contained in my sc\eral 
communications to ti»e public (the last of which was particularly 
calculated and interlded to close a ♦» war of words,'* and to dia\V 
tliat challenge from him, wJiich he had in a picvious publication 
•substantially pledged himself to send), leaves no other conclusion 
than that GE.N'ERJlLJiRMlSTEJlD T. MJiSOjY IS Jl 1)16- 
GliACEB COWJiaD. 

JOHN M. M'CARTY, 



Mrs. Pci^tnn's Boarding-house, Alcxamh .U) \ 
J)is't. €oL Eebruarij JG, 1818. } 



12 

[No. 9.] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

It is certainly not my tluty to fi,2;lit every blacliguard ulio is 
employed by my political eiiesnies to abuse me ; and murli less 
can it be my duty to chaltcvge any blackguard whatever, under 
any circumstances. 

in announcing as I liave repeatedly done, most distinctly, that 
I would accept a ( hallenge from Mr. John M^Carty, blackguard 
and scoundrel us he is, and fight him if lie challenged me, 1 thitik 
I have done enough. And even in doing that, I have incurred 
the severe censure of my friends, who from various parts of the 
country have insisted that I should treat him and every such man 
with silent contempt. 1 am sure no honorable man would have 
me to do more than 1 have done with such a despicable wretch. 
"Was he a gentleman, or was any thing that he can say, after 
such evidence of the most abandoned depravity and the most 
fihamelesfi disregard of cliaractcr, entitled to the least respect, 
the case woidd be different — ai d I would most certainly chal- 
lenge him for the last publication to which he lias affixed his 
name, aithougli it is evidently not written by himself. Of his 
preceding publications, whirh had his stamp upon them, I took 
the only notice that I could have taken of tlieui. even had they 
proceeded from a respectable source. The assertion that I ever 
pledged myself to challenge him, or any such man, is so notori- 
oiisly false as to be unworthy «if contradiction. 

Under the belief that Mr. Jolin M'Caity, however depraved 
in his principles, was a man of courage, and that (whether he 
Avas a man of courage or not) he had so committed himself, by- 
Ms I'oolish and ridiculous bravadoes, th'iit he would be compelled 
to challenge liie after my last publication, which ho had most 
wantonly j)n)voked, and in which I had exhausted every epithet 
of opprobiiuni of which I was capable, because he deserved 
them, I sent my commission as a brigadier-general to the gov- 
evnuv of the state, and tendered my rejignation of it, so as to 
rlcar the way for tlijs niighty Hector. I also made other ar- 
rangements, atMl suspended most isuportankt pecuniary negocia- 
tions in order to meet and Mght him if he challenged me. 

It is true, I hm] never known a bully who was not a coward; 
Iiut r had tlioiight Mr. Jol.n M'Carty, /rom a particular cause, 
^vas an escejjiion to the rule. I however had entirely mistaken 
the man. Half -ivittcd as ho is, on one subject he is perfectly sane,, 
and he cannot he made for a moment to lorget that ' 

" He who fights and runs aivay, 
'• May live lo fight another day ; 
'■ Biit he who is in battle slain, 
" Will never live to fight again;" 

And althougij he is always ready to box, !>iteand gouge with any 
hlaclignard in the street, he. shrinks instinctively IVoni honorable 



IS 

fomltat. To bis norturnal orcries in tlie alloys of Alexandria let 
liim then return, ami sctk there, anx.np; his c<nii])ecrs, that lame 
\vhlrh he lias in»t the roiiin.e;i' to acquire elsewhere. In the ring 
lie may rival Crib and Mollineaux, where nniscle snpplies ttie 
place of nei-\e. hul \\her.e\er he nn»e.sout ©flhat, liis jMoper 
sphere, he will, as he has now done, disi^race liimself, if such a 
coward scoumirel cin he dispiiared. 

To shew Mr. John M'Carty's real opinion of my roncUict at 
the hustinc;s, and tlie falsehood of his assertion that he expected 
me to call on him for what jiassed on that occassion, I state tlio 
fact, th.it I linve in my possession a letter from a respectable 
{^entlen an (\\hifli may be seen by any jifison who wishes to sec 
it) iriforniiii.jj me tbat on the very day ol the l.cujdoiin election, 
he expressly told ^ r. John M'Carty that he had heard the con- 
versation between IMr. Mines and myself, mentiojied ij, my Ifist, 
and tliat it w.ns my determinsition not to challenge him. And lur- 
ther that Mr. John M'Carty did in his presence, and to him, on 
the same day, and after tlie afiair in whicli he now pretends to 
say that S dis.^raced myself, expressly declare me to be *»braA^e 
and honorable." >\'itf) all these farts befoi-e them, wiio can pre- 
tend to donht the peerless verneity or the chivalrous sj)ir!t of 
Hr. John M*Cariy ? But J diMdal.M further to conmicnt upon sucli 
conduct. 

One word more and 1 dismiss this Rnhjcct. I have already 
stated that my business has been nuich inlerrupteil by thoexpccta- 
tion that Mr. John M'Carty would be incited to challeni**- me, 
and by my invariable and well known determination to figiit him^ 
if he did : hit which he never dared to do. His real character has 
novj fully developed itself, for it is now most evident tliat he has 
been afraid to do it ; and that (lis own conviction that I should 
r.ot, and that T would not challenge such a fdlow as he is, has 
made him insolent. 

Again to repeat what I have so often published, tliat I would 
accept a challenge from Mr. Jolin M'Carty and fight him, mi.t'^ht 
now, when it is clearly ascertained that lie cannot, by friends or 
foes, be goaded into a fight, be considered as a mere i>raVrt<io ; 
and that reason only restrains me from doing it. But hs tho.',ft 
who have had him in hand have failed in all their efforts to bring 
him to tlie mark, and as tiiere can be no hope that any new n!i> - 
tnim will be found to overcome his natural and incuralde bash- 
J'ltlness, I will at jmr e give them notice, that by hjs declinirg to 
avail himself oi the pledge I gave to fight him if he cha!!eiigtd 
me, and by the nnpreccdevtcd and really Iv.dicrons tnin lie has 
taken, 1 consider myself aLso!v(;il entirely from tliat pledge. And 
I give tlieni further notice, that they have lost their last chance 
of sacrificing my life by the instnimentalify (d ajiolitical myrmi- 
don, for I never will again consent to put my life in competition 
with that of such a v.orthless fellow as Mr. John M'Carty. 

Tg( his coivardice 1 owe llio peace and ha])piness of my wUe, 



.14 

arid ta^nily, but on a s'unilar occasion I might be brougl)t in 
contact with a man of courage, for every unprinciplid scoundrel 
is not a coward. 

I do not hesitate to acknowledge tliat I felicitate myself upon 
thus terminating this affair ; for although 1 would have fought 
Mr. John M'Cart), as I had pledged mvself to do it, if he had 
challenged me, yet I certainly preferred to avoid a conflict with 
him. as by any conflict with a man of his character I had every 
thing to lose and nothing to gain. 

I sliall now resume the prosecution of my business, in the hope 
that thdse vviio have made such violent, but unavailing eiforts to 
urge on their boasted and boastful champion, having seen him fal- 
ter, and sfixink from the work he had unclertaken to do, will now, 
in mortification and despair, if no l^etter principle can actuate 
their bosoms, abandon their designs against my life and leave 
me in peace. 

ARMISTEAD T. MASON. 
• 'MliFdu 1SJ8. , 
[Hera ttirn aated the firs'tl)aper controvel-sy . The second v/as c-aaimen- 

cedby Gen. Mason on the 1 Ith May, by his addressing an insolent let- 

ter-l/'Dr. Tebbs.J 

TO THE PUBLIC. 
During the period ofmyel*"ctioneering excursion through Lou- 
doun, and sinre the terminaUon of my List controversy with Geii. 
A. T. Mason, the Getiius of Liheity, a paper under his immediate 
jmtronagi', has been frequently crowded with the bitterest invec- 
tives against n^e ; hut they appeared in such a form that I co(dd 
make noinfpiijies concerning them — A few days, however, after 
m^ election as a tnember to the House of Delegates, a piece ap- 
peiired in the same fjaj.ier. signed "Juriscola," the author of 
wh'ch, fronj its genoai character of falsphood and scurrility,! de- 
Bvaiided of tlie Editor, and shall make no other apology for not 
chastisaig him, that' to inform the peojjle of Loudoun that this 
suborned agent vyas \Vm. H. Handy! ! ! Shoi-tly after Mr. Handy 
was given up as the author of <» Juriscola, I was informed that 
I\!r. Handy had some days before obtained a pair of duelling 
jjrs'olsTrom George M. Chichesie;, Esq. This intelligence was 
ancrerded by some c immmiirations between Mr. Chi<hest r and 
wiysi l! ; and thi* neg'iciatioii resulted in a manner higlily honora- 
bl to that gentleman ; but while the negociation was pending 
beiwccn us, the annexed iclter was addressed to Dr. Tcbbs: 

Sir, Leeseurg. May 11th, 1818. 

r 1 understand you have been the bearer of a note from Mr. John M'Carty 
to Georg;e Mason Chichester, demanding of him an explanation ot his 
conduct in lending my pistols to Mr. Handy. The note, as might be ex- 
pected from the character of its autiior, was such as not to entitle it to the 
inspect of an ar,ivver — and accordingly it has not leceived, one. I will, 



15 

hov.c.er, inform you (hat Mr. Chichester liad no a^eirvj i,, me business, 
except to deliver the pistols, at PDy written request, to Mr. MandJev Rust. 
It i« true that I did not know or even suspect that they were for Mr. Handy: 
but that is of no consequpnce — for if I had known all the circinnstances, 
I would have lent them to Mr. Handy. The principal object of this note 
is to inform you that I am responsible for the loan of those pistols. 

t am apprized that Mr. John M*Carty, like a coward and scoundrel as 
he is, has come trom A'exandria on a bullying: expedition. Not satisfied, 
with the contempt and derision lo which his recent conduct has exposed 
bim, he seems determined to sink himself stil' further, if possible, into the 
depths of infprny. The proflig:acy and pusillanimity of his character are , 
so (ully exemplified, as to forbid me to expect any thine; honorable of him. 
But I wish him to know, by the perusal of this letter, that I do not, in imi- 
tation of the example of Mr. Mercer, wish any of my friends to fipht my 
battles forme, evgn if any of them would permit themselves to be "insti- 
gated" to do it. And I repeat, that I an» responsible for the loan of those 
pistols, of which he pretends to complain. 

I am, sir, your friend and obed't serv't* 

ARMISTEAD T. MASOF. 

.^ . r was requested by General 'A. T. Mason to show a letter *^ ' " ' ©f 
ivhich'ls a'true copy, to Mr. M'Carty, which wfis done. ,. 

^ THOS.f . TEBBS^ 

I do certify, that in a conversation which took place between v^ eijeraj 
A. T, Masoii and myself, he stated that he would not receive any commu- 
nication, either directly or indirectly, from Mr. John M'Carty, unless it 
was a direct challenge ; and then he would accept, after he ha.H made the. 
proper preparation. This conversation took place on the afternoon of the 
11th Mar, 1818, in consequence of a letter addressed to George M. Chi- 
chester, fesq. by Mr. John M'Carty, relative to the loan of a pair of duel- 
ling pistols. THOS. F. TEBBS. 

As I had been compplled on a former occasion to piiblislt Gen. 
Mason j\s a <« disgraced coward," I should now have treated him 
with scorn, but that I regarded his snleiim and voluntary pledges 
to Dr. Tebbs to accept a " a direct challenge" Trom me, as a des- 
perate eflfort to retrieve his lost reputation, and to be avenged 
for the treatment of derision I bestowed upon his faithful squire, 
Wm. H. Handy-^l considered also his insulting interference be- 
tween Mr. Chichester and myself, as the result of a conflict 
between cowardice and pride, in whicli the latter had trinmphed, 
and I ascribed to iiim some merit while I believed he had gained 
an ascendancy over the most prominent, but not tho basest feature 
of his character. Under this conviction I sent him the subjoin- 
ed note. 

Sir, May 15, 1818. 

Wishing to meet yoil upon equal and honorable terms, I invite you to 
fight me at the distance of three feet. Your obed't serv't. 

My friend, Mr. Dulany, will hand you this. ^- ^' ^I'CARTl . 

General A . T. Aldson. 

But notwithstanding his valorous attempt to regain hislaurels, 
**his nerves failed him" at the critical moment, and his cowardice 
** instigated" hira to reject* a " direct challenge." — t\\vi why did 



16 
♦ 
he not accept it? Simply because its aocpplanco would liave in- 
volved him in an "equal an;] honorable*' corn 'lat. But he ob- 
served to my friend, Mr. Diilany, that he would accept a chal- 
lenge of tiie usual kind. — In '»lher words, he conld notji^ht thret 

feetf but \vould choose a distance which would shield him from 
danger Althou.erii the public comse of this man has been charac- 
terised by an iinbeciUhf not usual in Virginia statesmen : yet the 
state seems still desirous to foster iiim as a kind oi pet. It ran 
be for no other reason than his colosscan exertions to democra- 
tize the district in which he lives; and when (in our last contest) 
lie affected to expect a challcuj^c from me and "tendered'* tkc 
resignation of his commission, it was the opinion of many in- 
telligent members of the Legislature, that the dudlittg law would 
certainly have been repealed as it resjiectcd him, if his situation 
had rendered it necessary. With this preponderance of state 

favourin his behalf, what, I virillask, would be my fate if I were 
to fight an ordinary duel wi<h Gen. Mason, and survive him? 
If I did not voluntarily surrender myself to the officers of ju!^.tice,. 
I shotdd by them be hunted down, dragged to a loathsome jail, 
loaded with manacles and foot-chains, and finally doomed to die 
upon a gallows. In an <« equal and honoraijle** combat, I would 
have resigned my life without a sigh, but I Aviil avoid the is^no- 
ininif of a public execution. I again proclaim Gen* Ai-mistead 
T. Mason a " Disgraced Govv'ard ;" and at the same time that 
I throw Iwm upon the mercy of the world, I can assure him that 
he may now vaunt and Muster with impunity^ for I shall Jievcr 
a.^-ain mistake his maligmfy fovvalor. If, howe>'er, he should 
have the hardihood to attempt a vindication of !uscbaracter,and 
should circulate falsehoods worth replying to, I may probably 
answer them. Perhaps he may entrench himself behind etU 
quette. It is possible I may have violated etiqtiette ; but the man 
who viould voluntarily come forward and elicit a duelf and then 
shrink from it because (he terms proposed were "equal and hon- 
orable," will find etiquette but a feeble biilyji'ark to secure him 
from the imputation of coivardice. 

JOHN M. M'CARTY. 
T^ondoun, May Slsf, 1S18. 



[No. 2.] 

1,, . TO THE PUBLIC. 

i he piece which issued on Saturday last, from the Genius of 
r-iberty, IS it.tended to give a false idea of the late communica- 
tions between Gen. Mason and myself. It is true I did sav I 
Woidd challenge Mr. Chichester if he loaned those pistols to Mr, 
iiamiy tor the purpose of being emjdoyed against me ; and I also 
eaia that I would challenge Gen. xMason if he had loaned them 



17 

fbr the same purpose, but for our last publication. Afiy other 
statement than this has resulted eiMiei* from a misapprehensioit 
of my Ian.ii;uii.s;e, or avillavmis (ksign to calumniate me. But for 
the letter to\Dr. Tebbs, I should not have challenged him ; for 
ht had previouslfi declared he ivoiild never fght me. A few weeks, 
however, after this declaration, he said he would fight, and in- 
vited me, through Dr. Tebbs, to cliallenge him : I did so, and 
he rejected the challenge, liis editor now staccs that he will 
now figiit me. Here arc four statonnnts clashing with each 
other, and the last is made after he knew I would receive no 
communication from him, either " directly or indirectly," and 
after 1 had published him. I gave him permission, in my last 
publication, tox'a?tn^ and bluster with impunity, an<l I see he has 
indulged in his favorite j)ro|»ensity. I would advise him to pub- 
lisli a weekly account of his sanguinary as well as his pacific 
determinations. The piece under consideration would induce 
the belief that I have i-eceived communications from Gen. Ma- 
son subsequent to his interview with Mr. Dulany. This is posi- 
tively /ci/st',* for as Gen. Mason had (through Dr. Tebbs) inter- 
dicted all communications, either •< directly or indirectly," from 
me, except a ** direct challenge," J determined to receive from 
him no communication, "directly or indirectly," but his promise 
to accept my challenge, when he had made the proper prepara- 
tion, or a rejection of it. On the evenitig of the day that the 
challenge was delivered, I received notice of its rejection, and 
on the next day, the 18th ot May, Mr. Dulany, (in compliance 
with a promise he had made Mr. Rust, and in answer to that 
gentleman's request that I would modify the challenge) informed 
him that, inasmuch as Gen. Mason had rejected my challenge, I 
would receive from him no communication, '< directly or indi- 
rectly." This letter, owing to the badness of the weather, Mr. 
Rust did not receive until Tuesday, 19th of May.- On tiie 2 1st, 
my publication was sent (o the press, and after this^ Mr. Rust 
sought an interview with me, in which he distinctly acknow- 
ledged the receipt of Mr.Dulany's letter, and he was again told 
by. me I would respect nothing that came from Gen. Mason, and 
that I should act on his rejection of the challenge. Alter this, 
whatever Mr. Rust chose to say in my presence, he could nut, 
as a gentleman, consider as a communication from Gen. Ma- 
son ,• and therefore 1 presume that the statement made in thr, 
publication of the 23d, was not founded on his authority. I 
" rejected no proposition" from Gen. Mason, for it was 7i'e!l 
known I would receive none, and Mr. Rust had some days be- 
fore received Mr. Dulany's letter to that eflcct, and coase- 
qucntly must have anticipated the result of the iiiterview. 

Gen. Mason can now b( desperate. — Why w as he not so when 
the challenge was presented ? He had then a fair opportunity 
to show his "nerve;" but he rejected t!»e challenge and lia''; 
lately been boasting in a way well calculated (> <i!!ist Id liis 



is 

cause the civil authoi'ity. ErTit tins man would nev6r infract 
tlic peace, even were I disposed to notice his bravadoes. Ho 
invited me to ch.illenge him : I accepted the invitation. — He is 
dis^Ejraced, and [ am satisfied. 

The following statcmeiit will stifle all conjectures relative to 
Ihe result of the conference between Gen. Mason and Mr. Du- 
Unf. JOHN M. M'CARTY. 

Loudoun, May 26 Ih, 1818. 

; i have ho hesitation in stating that when I met General Mason at Major 
Mains's, I did, after ohe or two commonplace remarks, present Gen. Ma^ 
son Mr. M'Carty's communication, which was read by the General and 
rejected. Injustice to the parties I further state, that Mason, after having 
refused the challenge, observed that he would fight M'Carty, if M'Carty 
would challenge him in the usual way. He moreover stated diat he had 
reasons tor not accepting the communication, which he would suppress in 
Consideration of my feelings. JAS. H. DULANY. 

May2a^ 1818. 



[No. 3,] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

\ had hoped, most fVincercly hoped, that I was done witit 
uew.spapor cotitrovcjsivs. Indeed, nothing hut the most ex- 
traordinary rii'cnrastanccs could force me again to appear be- 
fore the public in tiiat way. But it is my fate to have beetr 
involved in a rpiarrel with a man, who w ithout an endowment, 
intellectual or moral, to rcscire liinr fiom the contempt of man- 
kind, and with manners as brutal as his mind and morals are 
debased, is ne\erthchss countenanced and encouraged, from mo- 
tives of political anjnuhsity against me, by a set of men in this 
county, somt^ of whom are deemed re^peciable, and who may ha 
HO, if iiKu who are capable of such Conduct, from such motives/ 
can he iT.spectablc. 

Notwithstartdiirg tlie Strong cirCnmstancca which impel me to 
ft, 1 !inw' m;ikc tins last appeal to the jiublic with extreme reluc- 
tance, for i kitfVvv the public must he tired, and I am (iisgusted 
t^itil Htich appeals'. But that ! have laboured hard to avoid the 
TU'cc.ssil}' ot it, will, I trust, most satisfactorily appear in the 
fjCfjiicI oftiie fuliawir.g narrative. 

On Mondiiy, t!ie 1 Ith ofthis month, I was informed by a friend 
that Mr, iolm r-iI-Caity had threatened to challenge Mr. Geo. 
Mason Cbirhester, for lendiiig my pistols to Mr. Wm. H. Handy. 
Indignant atsurii profiigate and outrageous conduct, understand- 
ing jierfccdy the motives of it, knowing that Mr. Chichester liad 
jio agency in lending the pist«ds, other thr.n to deliever them to my 
w riTteu order, and, above ;d!, determined that no man should be 
made to answer for an act of mine, I instantly resolved to find 



19 

JUr. Tebbs, who hatl been the bearer of Mr. M'Cnrty's note in 
Mr. Chicliesfer, and to infui'm him that I had hMtt tJie pistols, 
ami was responsilile for the act. And that rather than a friend 
should suffer for an act of mine, I would, n<)t\yiUistandin,e^ tho de- 
j^radation of Mr. John M'Carty, oncp moi-e agree to descend to 
his level, resign my commission and fig-Jit him, if he challenged 
lue for that act. Not being able, however, to find Dr. Tebbs, I 
addressed to him this letter : 

To Dr. THOMAS TEBBS: 
Sir, Leesbitrg, May 11th, 1818. 

I understand you have been the bearer of a note from Mr. John M'Carty 
to George Mason Cbichester^ demanding of liirii an explanation of hi;; 
conduct in lending my pistols to Mr. Handy. The note, as miglit be, ex- 
pected from the character of its author, was such as not to entitle it to the 
respect of an answer — and accordingly it has not r.eceived one. I vi'ijj, 
however, inform you that Mr. Chichester had no agency in the business, 
except to deliver the pistols, at my written request, to Mr. Mandley Rust! 
It is true that I did not know or even suspect that they were for Mr. Han- 
dy : but that ispf no consequence — for it I had known all the circumstan- 
ces, 1 would have lent them to Mr. Handy. The principal object of this 
note is to inform you that I am responsible for the loan of those pistols. 

I am apprized that Mr. John M'Cartj', like a coward and scoundrel as 
Jxe is. has come from Alexandria on a bullying expedition. Not satisfied 
with the contempt and derision to which his recent conduct has exposed 
him, he seems determined to sink bim;3elf still further, ii possible, into the 
depths of infamy. The profligacy and pusillanimity of his character are 
so fully exemplified, as to forbid me to expect any thing honorable oi him. 
Cut I wish him to know, by the perusal of this letter, that I do not, in imi- 
tation of the example of Mr. Mercer, wish an}' of my friends lo fight my 
battles for me, even if any of them would permit themselves to be '' insti- 
gated" to do it. And I repeat that I am responsible for the loan of those 
pistols, of which be pretends to complain. 

I am, sir, your friend and obed't serv't, 

AJIMISTEAD T. MASON. 

This letter was delivered by my friend, Capt. Stribling, and 
arcompanied by a message to this efiect, that 1 would receive no 
communication from Mr^ John M«Car*ty, directly or indircrfly, 
except a challenge, and that if he challenged me, I wotjjd lesigii 
my commission, and fight him. Uef^re 1 sent the lettei' I read 
it to Mr. Tutt, Major Mains, Capt. Stribling, and Mr. John Hurn- 
jihreys. Mr. Tutt informed me that Mi-. M'Caity had determin- 
pd to withdraw his threat against Mr. rbiclu'ster. Upon bearr 
ing that, 1 would have suppressed the letter, bur Mr: Humj-hreys 
at the same moment informed me that Mr. M-Carty had also 
threatened to challenge me. if I bad lent the j:i.<^fols. That ihrrat 
aguinst me, again determined nie to srnd the letter, and arcept 
Mr. John M'Carly's tlireatmed dudlcu^^e W it came, 'i'be letter 
was accordingly sent, and shewn to Mr. M'Carty on the same 
evening. On the next day I returnod to Letsburg to await tiie 
result. I remained in tow^ all day. The threatened challenge cajij^ 



«20 

not. In the cvcuiirsj 1 called on Dr. Tcb'is and Mr. HumpbreySi^. 
and obtained from them the following certificates :* 

I have no hesitation in sayinj^ that Mr. John M'Carty declared that he 
would challenge Gen. A. T. Mason, if he had loaned a pair of pistols to 
Mr. Handy to be used against him. This declaration was made a few 
days ago in my presence. THOS. F. TEBBS. 

May 12, 181S. 

Being called upon by Gen. Mason to know whether Mr. John M'Carty 
bad said fa few days since) that he wou-ld challenge Mr. G. M-. Chiches- 
ter, Gen. Mason, or any other gentleman who had loaned pistols for tha 
purpose of being used against him, I frankly answer that he did make that 
declaration to me. JOHN HUMPHREYS. 

Leesburg,jMay 12, 1818. 

Mr. John M<Garty, upon reading my letter to Dr. Tebbs, 
would very willingly have forgotten his threat to challenge me. 
Accordingly he let three days elapse without taking any notice of 
it. At length, by some means, he heard that Dr. Tehbs and Mr. 
Humphreys had given me certificates of his threat to challenge mc. 
He immediately called on Mr. Humpbveys (Dr. Tebbs having 
left the neighborhood) to know if he aad Dr. Tebbs had given 
such certificates. Mr. Humphreys answered in the affirmative. 
AlarmP:d at the situation in which he found liimself likely to be 
placed, he prevaricated, and attempted to deny that hehad threaten- 
ed to challenge me. He requested Mr. Humphreys to try and re- 
collect that he had excepted me in his threat. Unluckily for Mr» 
M'Carty, Mr. Humphreys << could iri/," but be could *'not recol- 
lect any such exceptioii.""* Hn the contrary, Mr. Humphreys re- 
peated that he and Dr. Tehbs concurred in saying that he fiad 
expressly threatened to challenge me, and that they had both given 
me certificates to that effect. — But for what passed between Mr. 
Humphreys and Mr. M<Carty on that occasion, I refer the public 
to Mr. Humphreys' ov. n statement :?— 

On or about the 10th of this month, Mr. John. M'Carty informed me 
that Mr. William Handy was the author of a publication in the Genius oL 
Liberty, signed " Juriscola ;" that he could not condescend to notice Mr- 
Handy ; but if Mr. Mason Chichester, Gen. Mason, or any other gentle- 
man, had loaned pistols to Mr. Handy for the purpose of being used 
against him, he would challenge that person. Several days subsequently, 
Mr. M'Carty called on me to know if Mr. Tebbs and myself had given 
certiScates to that effect. I at once told him vve had done so (that of Mr. 
Tebbs var3'ing in some measure from mine). Mr. M'Carty replied that I 
had entirely misunderstood him; that he excepted General Mason in his 
threat, for he could not notice him, as he had published him a coward, and 

* At this early period of the contest he acknowledges he was 
collecting materials for a future publication, but commences liis 
<< narrative" by saying<<ho had hoped, sincerely hoped, ti)at ho 
was done with nevi^snoper controversies, and that he had labored- 
hard to avoid onc.'"^' J. M. M*C. 



21 

requested I zi'ould try and recollect it. My reply was that I had not heard, 
bim make the exception of Gen. Mason, and in tliis opinion I was sup- 
ported by the certificate of Dr. Tebbs. JOHN HUMPHREYS. 

There was now hut ono coiu-sn left for Mr. M'Carty, Com- 
pletely entrapped in his own toils, without the possibility of es- 
cape, he had no alternative.— Dreadful as it Was, he was com- 
pelled to chollenge to a single combat, the man whom of all others 
he most feared. — From my heart f acquit him for tiiis act of des- 
peration: for never did a poor devil do an act with more painful 
reluctance, and with more awful and appalling apprehensions of 
the consequences, than did Mr. John M''Cai'ty put his trembling 
Land to an evasive challenge against me. But hecould not avoid it. 

On the 17th, the challenge was handed. to me by Mr. Dulany. 
It dictated the terms tipon which Mr. M^Cartiff the challenger^ 
would, agree te fight. The first time this, I venture to affirm, 
since the age of chivalry began, that the challenger ever pretend- 
ed to dictate the terms upon which he would agree to fight. No 
other evidence is necessary to shew the real character of the man. 
Upon reading tlie challenge, 1 told Mr. Dulany, most distinctly 
and repeatedhif that I wojild resign my commission, accept a chal- 
lenge from Mr. John M'Carty, and fight him, but that 1 would 
not permit Mr. M^Carty to prescribe the terms of the-jcluel, 
which he as the challenger had no right to do. My answer lo 
Mr. Dulany will however more satisfactorily appear in the sub- 
joined statements of Mr. Dtilany himself, and that of Major 
Mains and Mr. Rust, who were present :--~ 

I have no hesitation in stating: that when I met Gen. Mason at Major 
Mains's, I did, after one or two commonplace remarks, present Gen. Ma- 
son Mr. M'Carty's communication, which was read by the General, anci 
rejected because of the terms of the challenge being prescribed by Mr. 
M'Carty. Injustice to the parties I further state, that Gen. Mason, after 
having: refused the challenge, observed thatJie would fight Mr. M'Carty 
if he would challenge him iii the usual way. He moreover stated that he 
had reasons for not accepting: Mr. M'Carty's communication, which he 
suppressed in consideration of my feelings. JAS. H. DULANY. 

We were present when Mr. .Tames H. Dulany delivered, a challenge to 
Gen. A. T. Mason from Mr. John M'Carty. Gen. Mason upon reading 
it immediately remarked that it was inadmissible, inasniiidias it prescribed 
the terms of the duel, a thing: wholly unprecedented. He told Mr. Du- 
lany, expressly and repeatedly, that he would resip;fi his cpmrnission, ac- 
cept a challenge from Mr. .tobn M'Carty, and fight him : but that he 
would not permit Mr. M'Carty to prescribe the terms of the duel, as he, 
being the challenger, had no right to do so. This was in substance Gen. 
Mason's answer to Mr. Dulany, and he repeated it over and over agaai, 
most distinctly. GEORGE RUSXJr. 

ARCHED. MAINS. 

I further told Mr. Dulany that upon being informed by him 
tli;-t Mr. M'Carty had modified his challenge, 1 would imnudi- 
ately resign my commission, repair to the District and meet !iim-. 



Mr. Diilany promised to let me hear from him the moment he 
jsaw Mr. M'Carty. With this promise, he left us. 

I ohjected to Mr. M'Carty's dictation of the terms oFthe duel, 
for these ohvious reasons; first, because he had no right to dictate 
them; but principally b.ecaiisc I had no security that a man of his 
character would not fire before the word was given; the agitation 
of his nerves might make him fire inadvertently ; or his dishonor- 
able and profligate principles might 'instigate"" him to do it design- 
edly. And it would have been worse tlian madness and folly to 
have put my lifein thepowerof a cowardly and unprincipled assas- 
sin with no other security than his honor. Tliis was the reason 
which I withheld from Mr. Dulany, in consideration of his feel- 
ings ; and as soon as Mr„ Dulany withdrew, I assigned it to Mr. 
R«jst and Major Mains. 1 had intended to have pr<'scribed term? 
which would have been as desperate as Mr. M'Carty would have 
desired, and which would have precluded the possibility of dis- 
lionorahle conduct on the field. 1 mentioned them on the spot to 
Maj. Mains and Mr. Rust. They were the same as those on 
which I fought Mr. Samuel Noland a few years since. Each 
party to have two pistols, stand at fifteen paces distance, and 
iiiarch up, and fire at pleasure. Mr. M'Carty miglit then have 
approached within three feet, or three inches if he had preferred 
it. But he preferred not to fight at all, on any terms. 

In the contest with Mr. Noland, to which I have just had occa- 
sion to allude, I encountered a very different man from Mr. John 
M'Carty. There was then no blustering, no " war of words.^"' 
Not doubting his own courage, and disdaining the swaggering 
airs of a tavern bully, Mr. Noland felt himself aggrieved, and 
challenged me. He neither attempted in his challenge to evade 
jlie consequences of it, by sending one which he knew "I was 
jiot bopnd to accept,"' nor did he shrink from the fight, and shel- 
ter himself behind newspaper misrepresentations, when he roun(| 
his challenge would be accepted. We met and fought. It was 
iny fate to receive both his fires unhurt. By my first he was se- 
verely wounded. I discharged my second pistol in the air. Gene- 
rous as brave, he soon forgave me, and ever since \ye have been, 
iiS I trust \ve ever shall be, friends. 

On the next day after my interview witli Mr. Dulany, and be- 
fore I had h^^ard any thing from him or Mr. Jl/' Car/?/, 1 address- 
ed the fallowing letter to Mr. Dulany; and by sunrise on Tues- 
day morning enclosed it to my friend, Mr. Rust, to he forward- 
ed to Mr. Dulany. It was enclosed in tiie letter whicji is imm^- 
iliately annexed. 

To GEORGE RUST, Jr. Esq. 
Dear Rust, Selma, (sunrise) 19th May, 1818. 

VVIien you receive (he communication which ne expect from Mr. James 
il. Dulany, and which he j-.mmised us, if it shall appear that Mr. John 
M'Carty still persists in the terms prescribed, I'll thank you to send to Mr- 
pulany the en^los^d letter. Ypi? will porceive I'y it that I ha'/e detercra- 



hed to waive all exceptions to the form of Mr. M'Carty's challenge, and as 
soon as I can get clear of my commission, to meet iiim, and to fight out 
our quarrel on any terms, and be done with it. It would be disgraceful to 
all parties to prolong it. And I am resolved to terminate it at once, even if 
1 shall have to surrender my rights in order to do it. Mr. John M^Carty^s 
challenge, if it can be so called, is most evidently nothing but a cowardly 
stratagem to evade the consequences of a regular challenge, and it shall 
not avail him. Yours, most sincerely, ARMISTEAD T. MASON. 

To JAMES H. DULJiNY, Esq. 
•Sir, Selma, 18th May, 1818. 

If Mr. John M'Carty still persists in adhering to the terms prescribed in 
his challenge, which however ne has no right to do, and which most undenia- 
bly give to that challenge the character of a mere effort to evade the conse- 
&ttences of a regular challenge.) I have determined, in order to remove all 
difficulty on the subject, to suspend the exercise of my undoubted right on 
the occasion, and to waive all objection to the form of that challenge.* Jind 
/ now inform you that as soon as I receive the Governor's acceptance of my 
commission,\ 1 will accept a challenge from Mr. John M^Carty, and meet 
andfght him, on terms which he shall acknowledge are in every possible re- 
spect perfectly equal, and which he and every body else shall also acknow- 
ledge arc desperate to the last degree. 

It is unnecessary to add that the most profound secrecy must be preserved 
in regard to this whole matter. You will commwiicate the contents of this 
letter to Mr. John M^'Carty, and let me have his answer. Upon the receipt 
of which, I w*ill immediately nend off my commission to the Governor, and 
make all other necessary arrangements for the ultimate event. 
lam, sir, respectfully, your obed't serv't, 

,. ARMISTEAD T. MASOA'. 

It is unnectssary to mention the terms which I then meant to 
propose. They were mentioned on the same morning- to two or 
thrte gentlemen, and among others to John 1. Harding', Esq. and 
Joshua Oshurn, Esq. They were admitted to be equal in every 

* Here he says he will <« waive all ohjection to the forn> of my 
challenge." But mark the contradiction that immediately fol- 
lows. J, M. M'C. 

f Observe — he could not accept a challenge (not even one to 
fight fifteen yards), unless he could " receive the Governor's ac- 
ceptance ot his commission." This he well knew he never could 
receive, as the Governor had refused to accept it a short time be- 
fore. But when this condition is complied with, he says, *< I will 
accept a challenge (not my challevge), and meet and figlit him on 
terms^ &.c. (not imj terms) — for he observes in the << sequel of hia 
narrative": "It is unnecessary f»ir me to mention the terms I 
then meant to propose ; they were mentioned on the same morn- 
ing to two or three gentlemen, and among others to John I. Har- 
ding, Esq. and to Joshua Osburn, Esq." This, 1 think, w:i.<) 
*< rending the veil of secrecj " which he in his letter to my 
friend, Mr. Dulany, was so anxious to preserve " with regard to 
this whole matter" — and confirms what has already been said of 
him, <« that he had been boasting in a way well cah ulatcd to en- 
list in ilia cause the civil authoritv." J. M. M'C. 



• 

possible rpspect and despprate enough. Indeed I never desired 
any advantage over Mr. M'C'arty in that way: all Lever desi- 
ret} in a duel with him was security against assassination. The 
idea that I am so excellent a marksman has originated entirely 
in his own fears. So far from it, I actually have not shot a pistol 
for fourteen months. 

In the course of the day, on Tuesday, I rode to Leesburg. 
Mr. Dulany's promised communication had not arrived. It was 
then suggested to me, that Mi-. John M'Carty would pretend to 
construe my refusal to permit him to prescribe the terms of ihe 
duel, int« a refusal to fight him, and tliat he would proceed im- 
mediately to Alexandria and resort to a newspaper publication to 
that effect. I could readily believe Mr. M"'Carty to be capable 
of such conduct, particularly as I knew, from liis character, that 
he would eagerly catch al the least chance of escape. But I 
thought he had bettei- advisers tlian to be permitted to take a 
course so ridiculous. After some consultation with a friend or 
two, |t was determined to wait that5day for Mr. Dulany's expect- 
ed communication ; and if it did not arrive, to send off an ex- 
press early the next morning with my letter to him. f^ate in the 
evening t)«e following letter was received from Mr. Dulany : and 
although it bears date Alexandria, 20th of May, it was received 
in Leesburg, on the evening of the 19th. 

To GEORGE RUST, Jr. Esq. 
IDrar Sir, 

I am desired by my iriend Mr. John M'Carty to say that General A. T. 
Mason having unequivocally rejected his communication, precludes the 
possibility of his receiving any further communication, either directly or 
indirectly, from the General. Very respectfully, 

Alexandria, May 20th, 1818. JAS. H." DULANY. 

Early next morning (Wednesday) a young gentleman of great 
respectability and intelligence, set out express for Alexandria, 
with my letter to Mr. Dulany. lie went to Alexandria, but rosdd 
not finder bear any thing of Mr. Dulany or Mr. JohnfM'Carty. 
Mr. Duianij's letter being dated Alexandria, had induce.:! me to 
search fortijeni thei-e. On Thursday evening the messen<;*^r re- 
turned from Alexandria to Leesburg. Ey this time Mr. M'Carty , 
niter having eluded the most vigilant pursuit, had ventured to 
shew himself in Leesburg. And it now appears that be was 
seen in Aldic, thirty four miles fi'om Alexaidria, on the evening 
cf t!je 19th, and morning of the 20th, when I had been led to 
pursue him to Alexandria. 

it had been better for liini if he had kept himself concealed a 
little longer. — For no sooner did the bearer of my letter to .'-'r. 
Dulany return from Alexandria to Leesbuig, than did njy friend 
Mr. Rust, witli a [)ro.i^ptitinlc and decisioi) of character which 
<listi:iguishcs him on all occasions, call on Mr. M-Carty with my 
letter to Mr. Dulai'.y. telling lUm at the same time, that he rcceiv- 



eiHt on Tuesday morninp; and i»ad fowardcd it to Alexandria on 
Wednesday by express. Mr. M'Carty rcCcised to i-eceive the let- 
ter. Mr. Rust told him the purport of it.* He replied it came too 
late, and refused to receive it, t!ius rejectinej the proposition it 
contained. Early on Friday morninj^, Mr. Rust gave tlie letter 
to Dr. Wilson, an intimate friend of Mr.iSI'Carty. The Dr. call- 
ed on Mr. M'Carty and told him that he had such a letter in his 
possession, and that I had agreed to waive all objection to the 
form of his challenge and to *' fight him on his own ferms.''^ Mi\ 
M'Carty again refused to receive the letter, saying it was too late, 
and thus again rejected the proposition it contained. 'I'o silence 
all cavilling on the subject, 1 si btnit the following statement 
from Mr. Rust and Mr, Samuel M. Edwards : — 

The above letter from General Mason to Mr.Dulany was enclosed to me 
in the one which precedes it by General Mason, very early on Tuesday 
morning, the 19th. It was shown in confidence to major Mains, John I. 
Harding^, Esq. and Joshua Osbuni, Esq. Jit that time, nothing had been 
heard from Mr. M^Carty, or Mr. Dulany after kis mierr/etc; 2i;ith General 
Mason at major Mains^s, on the \lth. Late in the evening of the !9th, I re^ 
ceived a note from Mr. Dulany, a copy of which is inserted above. Early 
next morning: I enclosed the above letter by express to Mr. DuJany, who 
trora the date of his note was supposed to be in Alexandria. The youn;^- 
gentleman who undertook to carry the letter to Mr. Dulanv, went to Alex- 
andria, but he could hear nothing of Mr. M'Carty or Mr. Dulany. He im 
mediately returned to Leesburg. He arrived about 5 or 6 o'clock on 
Thursday afternoon. Mr. M'Carty had got to town a short time before 
him. I took General Mason's letter to Mr. Dulany, waited on Mr. M'Car- 
ty, and told him that I had in my possession a letter from General Mason 
to his fi'iend, Mr. James H. Dulany ; that I received it early on Tues- 
day morning, and prior to receiving Mr. Dulany'' s note to me; (baton 
W^ednesday morning early, I sent it to Alexandria, and that the messenger 
returned without being able to hear any thing of Mr. Dulany or himself. 
Mr. M'Carty replied that he would receive no communication from Gen. 
Mason. I then stated to him the purport of General Mason's letter. Mr. 
M'Carty replied that it was too late — that he would receive no communi- 
cation whatever from Gen. Mason. I then gave the letter to Dr. U'llson, 
a particular friend of Mr. M'Carty. and requested him to hand it to J^fr. 
M'Carty, and after seeing Mr. M'Carty on the subject, to let me know his 
answer. Dr. Wilson, after seeing Mr. M'Carty, returned me the letter, 
and related to me what had passed between him and Mr. I^I'Carty, pre- 
cisely in purport, and very nearly in the language, of the following certifi- 
cate, which I prepared and presented to him for his signature, tiut which 
he refused to sign, assigning as his only reason that he did not wish to 
have any thing further to do with the matter, as it might appear too otTi- 
cious in him. The certiiicate is immediately suljoined. 

GEORGE RUST, Jr. 

" At the request of Mr. George Rust, Jr. I waited on Mr. John M'Carty, 
and told him I had in my possessio7i tzi>o letters to Mr. James If. Diduny, 
the one from Mr. Rust, the other from General Mason. Mr. AVCarty asked 
me if they zaere the same that Mr. Rust had in his possession the evening be- 

* I'll •» purport," of it was at this time no nvcvrx, andgeiicral- 
ly admitted to be a refusal to light on '*anv teims." 

J. M. M*C. 



20 

.fivrc ; I told him iJicywere — upon which Mr. M"€arty refused to read or 
■receive the letter. I then stated to him that the purport of General J['Iason''s 
fetter zidus that he would waive all objection to the form of his challenge, 
and fia,ht him on his own terms. Mr. M'^Carty saidit reus too late ; that he 
Tvould receive no communication from General Mason. Mr. M''Carty ad' 
mitted, in a conversation with me, that General Mason was not bound to ac- 
cept his challeni^e on the terms prescribed, but that on such an occasion 
General Mason on^ht to have waived etiquette. The above mentioned let- 
ters were left roith -me by Mr. Rust, and the above conversation with Mr. 
M'Carty had early on the morning of the 22d day of May, 1818." 

At the request of Mr. George Rust, Jr. I state that 1 was present when Mr. 
Rust presented the a f)regoing certificate to Dr. Wilson for his signature ; 
that Ifr. Ritst as well as the Doctor read it ; that the Doctor admitted the 
correctness or truth of it, but declined signing it, for the reason before stated 
by Mr. Rust. SAMUEL M. EDWARDS. 

Anil \v!i3% let me ask, was it too latpf(»r Mr. M«Carfy to receive 
\x\y jtroposilion to resign my conimission and meet him on his 
onn terms ? U that time no puhlication had appeared. My pro- 
{iosition was made before he had announced or even devised the 
the very ingenious and novel subterfuge of declaring he would 
receive no further comniunication fi*om me. But upon what au- 
thority or jyrjnciple could he pretend to refuse my proposition at 
any time? Did «»' etiquette" {(»rbid it ? He tells us '• he violated 
etiquette" i;j proscrihiug the terms upon which he would agree 
to fight. Bow came he then so su{!(lcn!y to become a stickler 
for *•' etiquette?" *» On such an occasion I think Mr. M'Carty 
ought to have waived etiquette.'" 

But " eliquL-lte'' !md nothing to do with it. It was rank cowar- 
slice, and uotliinp; else, tiiat mudc him refuse. And this will now 
!;e acknowh^iged by every candid man in the community. 1 cer- 
tainly had a right, in the first instance, to object to the form of 
his clial'engf, (admitted by himself to be objectionable,) and af- 
terwards to waive that objection. Mr. M'Carty has not the poor 
exeiise. ujnin which he would now be glad to rest his hopes, that 
having dechired he would receive no fui-thevcommsn'.ication from 
ine, «• etiqtrettc" (which ho never violated) obliged him to reject 
my proposition, lie has not even that poor excuse, for I had 
made my proposition long before J heard of liis declaration, as 
will he seen by reference totho dates of my lettei-to Mr. Dulany, 
iim\ of hi? to Mr. Rust. Min<Ms dated the ISth, his on the 20th.* 
I5«t even vil'ter having made that declaration, can any man believe 
thdt Mr. M'Carty would have adhered to it. and rejected my re- 
])eated jTropoRitions t^ resign my commission and fight him, on 
any terms, if lie had not been afraid to fight, mc. The truth is, 
ho adopted an njinrecedented and inadmissible mode of challen- 

*The i-eadcrwiU rccoilcct iltnt he has acknowledged the re- 
ceipt of this letter on tlie 19th ; and after thi;^, he attempts to 
build ats argument on its accidental dute of the 20th. J. M.xM'C. 



fih'.jij, Nviilj ^1" oilier view than to avoid ihe consequences of a I'c- 
4j;ular rha!l^ii2;c. and willi Lreatliloss ea.^crnoss lie (■au.s:;!it at au 
anticipaU'd and just pxcoption to tlif form of !iis (liailonno iu 
ordiT to avoid a duel. II additional proof can be required, look 
a.s^ain at the statement of Mr, KdvNards. From tliat .statement it 
appears that Mr. M'Carty expressly admiltci! to liis fi'iend. Dr. 
AVils«>ri, thiit iolrcas not huuvd to accept h'.s challenge on the iirm.'i 
prescribed.*"-^ If, titen, he knew I was not hound to accejit it ou 
suh terms, and that it was not such a chidlen.2:e as I ought to 
accej)t, he must have anticipated that I would ohject tu those 
terms, and he must ha\c prescribed them with the particnlai- 
view of escapini^ tlie consequences of sending such a challens;c a?i 
I ought to have acce{)tcd. To ensure success to this artifice, he 
attempted ahi'Uptly to break off" the correspondence, precipitately 
fleti from the neighbourhood, and for several days eluded my 
inowt vigilant pursuit. And when at last he was overtaken, he 
rc' e(h'd fi'om his own terniJj and pcremj)torily refused to accede 
to any that could be nroj)oscd. He chose rather to avoid a fight, 
however dis2;raceful, by stepping at once in the ncwspapei s, and 
misrepresenting the whole transaction. Comment upon such 
conduct would be a waste of w<)»ds. 

Before I heard from Mr. TJust that Mr. M'Carty refused to 
read my letter to iNSr. Dulany, or to receive any communication 
from me, 1 had jirepared a letter to him. Upon receiving that 
information from Mi-. Rust, I Mould have stopped short, for I was 
more firmly ccmuuced than ever that Mi-. M'Carty wnuld not 
fight if he coiild possibly help it Extremely anxious liowe\ ei- to 
av "id a newspaper controversy; perceiving that he, notwith- 
statiding his great "contempt for a war of Vvords," was endea- 
voring to give the affair that turn; believing still that he might 
be •< kicked into a fight," and resolved to leave him no excuse, I 
determined to make anotlier effort by sending the letter. And if 
nothing else would do, to agree to become the chcJlenger rather 
than rtnew a contest in the newspapers, which I (eaied wouhl be 
considered as disgraceful to us both, although I was CG;iS( ious 
of having done every thing in my power to avoid if. My last 
communications were to this effect, and I givetlicm m the words 
of Mr. Rust, who was the bearer of them. 

On Friday morning, the 22d of May, I called on Gen. Mason, to inform 
him that Mr. M'Carty refused to receive his letter to Mr. Dulrioy, and also 
refused to receive any communication from liim. Before 1 arrived, Gen. 
Mason had prepared a letter to Mr. M'Carty, whicli lie shewed me. In 
that l(;lter lie stated that he would agree to resign bis conmii.-sion, accep| 

* liiS i positively deny. — 1 never made bu( h an aduiission to 
t)r. ^V ilson, as will appear from that gentleman's oivn slutement,, 
connected with the secoivi statement of iMr. Edwards — both of 
which may be seen in the Lecsburg ^Yashingtonian of the 23U 
of June. * J. M. M«C. 



28 

Mr. M'Carty's challenge, and fight nim at three feet, or three inches if he 
preferred it, provided he could he secured against Mr. M'' Car tyh firing 
before the rrordraas given, and thus assassinating him* It was accompa- 
nied by a written memorandum addressed to me, requesting me, if Mr. 
M'Carty rejected that proposition, to inform hin^. that Gen. Mason would, 
in order to terminate at once and forever a di.sgracefully protracted quar- 
rel, resign his commission and agree to become the challenger (if he could 
be assurvid that fllr. M'Carty would fight on any terms which would not 
enable him to commit assassination with impunity) — that it then would be. 
Mr. M'Carty's right to prescribe the terms of the duel, a right which he 
would not attempt to take from him.' 

Gen. Mason said that notwithstanding Mr. M'Carty's declaration that, 
he would receive no communication from him, he would make another ef- 
fort to terminate their quarrel without going into the newspapers, {for at 
that time no p^ihlication had ajypeared, nor did any appear until Friday^ 
evening)\ and that if Mr. M'Carty rejected those propositions, he should 
have done aii he could to avoid a newspaper controversy, and Mr. M'Carty 
might lake the consequences of In's own conduct. About 12 or 1. o'clock 
of that day I inquired for Mr. M'Carty, and was informed he had rode 
out : about 3 o'clock I called on Mr. M'Carty with the abovementioned 
comiTtunications, and told him I Vi'ished to have some private conversation 
with him : he at once replied that he would converse with me on any other 
subject than thatoj" Gen. Mason's communications. I then told him I had 

* This offer tu ilgiit Mie (as he calls it) is exactly like the of- 
fer contained in the <• written mcmnraRdnm" whicli imnicdiatdy 
succeeds it. His fighting;, in Ix^h^ would depend upon his re- 
ceiving security that ( would not " fire before the word was 
,s;iv en, and thus assassinate him.'* What security was it pos- 
si!)Ie for me to give that I would not *' fire before the word was 
given,'''' other than that wljich he deems insufilcicnt ? Observe— 
»< It would have been worse than madness and foil if to have put 
my life in the ])ower of a cowardly and unprincipled assassin, 
with no other security than his honor.'''' But independently of 
his own assertion to that cfierta the circumstance of his asking 
security shows that '< my honor^^ would not have been received 
as " security against assassination ;'* and as that was the only 
pledge which it was possible for me to give in such a case, his 
two last oHcrs, certified to by Mr. llust, so far from being con- 
sidered as an agreempnt to fight, can only be regarded as ex- 
jjvessive of hts determination not to fght on « any terms. ^^ That 
covvardice urged him to demand such <* security," is obvious— 
for if he had really si!|ipo!>ed me capable of *» assassination." he 
could not possibly have believed that I would have invited him to 
the field to commit the act in the presence of witnesses, when I 
coiili! have assassinated him any day I chose, and escaped the 
p'^tialties of the law. But if he believed himself secure from 
this mode of attack, many opportunities of <« assassination '*^ 
would have occurred on the field, even if the fighting distance 
had been stipulated at »' fifteen yards." J. M. M'C. 

f It was Friday evenitig Mr. Rust called on me. At that time 
I had corrected tltc proof sheet of my publication, and a few mi- 
Jivitcs after, it was sent me fiir circulation. J. M, M'C. 



29 

communications from Gen. Mason for him, which he positively refused t« 
receive or hear any thing from the General. 

GEORGE RUST, Jr. 

It thus appears tliat my letter to Dr. '^Tcbbs was riroduced by a 
threat from Mr. M'Cai'ty t(* cliallcn/^)^ M»-. Georc^e Mason (bi- 
che.-fer or myscit', if eillier of us had lent my pistols to Mr. 
Handy. That Mr. M'Caity, notwithstanding; his wanton and 
positive threats to rliall'Mij^c me, fait* led, as he did last winter, 
"when it came to tlic test ; and would not liav*' clsaliensfed me, but 
that he discovered I had unqestionable pioof of his having used 
that threat: 

That thus compelled to challenge, he adopted a mode of 'hal- 
lens^ins^ wholly unprecedented, and which he knew and admitted 
to be objectionable : 

That when he found him challenge, objectionable as it was, 
•would be accepted, he most disj^raeefuliy receded from his own 
terms, and would not fiixUt on any that could be proposed : 

That 1 never did refuse directly or indirecti}' to accept a chal- 
lenge from Mr.Jolm M'Carty, but on the contrary that ///fs^/ncf- 
ly and repeateclly t-dd Mr. Duiany, the beaeev of" his challe»i.a:e, 
that I would resii-jn my commi'^sion, accept a challensce from 
Mr. M'Carty and fiejht him; but that I \vou]d not permit him 
to [irescribe the terms of the duel, which he, being the challenger, 
had no riglit to do : 

That I afterwards agreed to resign my commission, and then 
to waive all objecti')n to the form of Mr. M'Caity's challefsge, 
and fight hitn on torms which he and every other pei'soji should 
acknowledge wer'C in every possible respect [jerfectiy eqjial, and 
desperate to the last <legree : and that he rejected this proposi^ 
tion : 

That I then offered to resign, ai'.d after having done so to agre© 
to meet Mi'. M-Carty ou his own terms — and finally to resign 
and to agree to become ilie challenger if I could be assured that 
he would fight. But all in vain. Mr. xM>Carty could not be 
brftiJght out to fight on any terms, And y/tatthe very period of 
time that he thrice refused to fight on any terms, he was printiog 
a libellous handbill, iii which he charges me with cowardice. Can 
such a man have any respect for the good opinion of society? 
Can he have any sense of honor or shame! After this I do pre- 
sume that we shall hear no tnore of tiie heroism of Mr. John 
M*Carty : not even from the njost virulent of my enemies ; and 
that he will be the only man left, as he has always been the first 
and loudest, to boast of his valor.^ 

I have gone into this very minute detail ofall the cir-cumstan- 
ces, to guard as much as possible against future misrepresenta- 
tions of the subject, and because I am resolved never rnoie to 
take any nr)tice w^bateveritf Mr..Ioho M'C'arty, or any thing that 
comes from him. I felt it due 'o mysi Ifanl to my friends tomako 
tisis developemeut;, before I dismissed forever a subject; ivl'ich i 



am extremely iDorfified at beifig again compellpcl to tourli at alK 
1 shall thcrefoie rcrtaiiilv dicliju^t-. meet Mr. John iM'Cartv iu 
the iiewspapt'fs : nothiu.g shoi-t of absolute ncressity ever made 
me, in any ijistance, take t!;at fu'ld against him. I shall not 
even reply to his handbills v\hich are now beCoie the public. 

1 know not in wb«t tirms to apologize to the public, to my 
fi'ionds and to my family, for having ever condesreiKied to notice 
3Vlr'. John iM'Caity, Every gentleman, who lias ever had the lui- 
miliatine: misfortune to have !>ee.n invohod in aqtiarrel vvitjj such 
a man, wiii diily appreciate tiie difficolti^'s 1 have had to encoun- 
ter in the cf-nti'sr, ;uid will, I knov.', be disposed ti; excuse mc if 
I have somrJimes erred. It was aptly remarked by a federal 
quaker, of this county, who was candid enough to confess the 
truth, ''that Mr. John M'Carty would never liave been noticed if 
I liad not kicked him out of the ashes." 1 indeed felt myself re- 
sponsible for having given a consequeticc to him ^^hich he other- 
wise never would have had ; and he, intoxicated with it, had 
become a nuisan( •• to the neigliborhood. As some atonenient for 
Tny fault in giving him that consequence, I have arrested his 
career in his attempts to distui'b the ()eace of our society. I 
Lave shewn this ass in lion's skin to be quite a harmle s crea- 
ture. He can mo longer terrify timid women and children. I 
liopc even the candid quaker will excuse me for having <' kicked 
Mr. John M»Carty from the ashes,'"" since ] have put him back 
3gain where I ff)und Iiim. i\nd if [ am to blame for ha\ing ele- 
vated him, by a mistaken admission, to the rank of a gentleman, 
it must be acknowledged ;hat 1 have, with much [)aii s, reduced 
liijn to his formei* and proper kve! ; asid 1 liave now done witK 
i?im forever. ARxMlSTEAD T. MASON, 

^clma, SOth Muj, 1818. 



[No. 4.] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

It will be recollected that my publit ation bearing date May 21, 
appeared on tlie 22d of the sanje month. On the day of its date, 
Iio .vever, it was seen and read by several of my frievsds, one of 
whom was Mr. Wilson C. Seldon, Ji*. who would certify to tlio 
fact were it necessary. In that publication, and in the one 
which was exiorted from me a few days after, by a handbill, 
.signed "Editor Genitis Liberty," it will be seen that the course 
I have pursued, with regard to general Mason, in both of those- 
addresses, was dictated by the most incontrovertible proofs of 
his coxvardice. Although those proofs were before sufficiently 
<:onfltisive, jet they are now, if poss:bI«', n»ade more transparent 
in general iMason's long •« promised narrative of facts," which 
appeared in the Genius of the 9th June, and vvliich commences 



v/ith an exonliiiin, Gontainiii,a; a w/mu?f.^ and pileous '"Xnfii ap- 
peal to the public," for being •• forced by tlie most exfraordiiia- 
ry circumstanccvj to appear befoi-e tlie public" "to fi^-lit his bat- 
tles" with his favorite weapons pen and ink. as Ije could iiofc 
£;'nnMuut the '* extraordinarif circumstance^'' of fij^litinii; tliem 
with pistfds " at the distance of three feet.** His exordium em- 
braces also some strictures on my want of " eixlow ments moral 
ov intellectual f*' which are so strikiiij2;ly applicable to himself, that 
I cannot pass them wrtljoui comment. These remarks, however, 
pri'sent hut a miniature likeness of hisn, who, but a short time 
since, wMiilc an excellent custdmer at dii'ty inns, was the wretch- 
ed and pitied victim of inebriation ; and whose profanations of 
late years, may perhaps find some apolo!2:y in that paucity ot* 
talent which rendered him so conspicnously dumb in the senate of 
the Unitpd States ; and which intk^ed was anticipated by many 
of his own party, who best knew him, when his elevation to 
that distinguished station was proposed. It is said that on one. 
occasion, while a member of that body, he endeavored to sustain 
the dignity of his constituents hy participating in the discussion 
of a question of some momciit ; but notwithstandirg the soof/u 
hig encouragement and the benevolent assistance wisirh he rc- 
cei\ed frmi a distinguished federal member, he ch»wnish!y ac- 
knowledged, in his difficulties^ that that was no " field for 
him," and in making known his determination to leave the 
senate, he honestly implied tliat his dearth of brains had indu- 
ced that determination. And yet after this lumvions display 
of his intellectual powers, wliich is known frouj Maine to Geor- 
gia, you find him unblnshingly animadverting upon X\\(^ po\erty 
of another's mind. In my last I commented on the statement 
which is now to be seen in general Mason's " !a«t appeal" of 
9th June, in two certificates, signed by Oi-. Tcbbs and \Ir. 
Humphreys. Dr. Tehbs I have long known as an acquaintance 
and a friend, and my knov»'ledge of his chai'actei- convinces me. 
that he has innocently misapprehended the nature of my thr-'^at 
relative t'> gen. Misou ; for it is not reasonable to suppose that 
I at tJiat time would threaten to chall nge a man wliom \ Itad n 
few weeks befoi'c published as a <» disgraced cov/ard," and in 
the face of his public declaration that he would never fight me. 
As I have previously stated. I remarked that I would cirallenge' 
gen. Mas(»n, if he had lent pistols to Mr Haiuiy. for the purposo 
of being used against me, but for our last publications. But it 
is of no consequence, for the certificates in their {.resc-nt and in- 
correct form, are not at all injurious to me ; and fir the sake of 
argument I will admit for a moment their correctness. Ti)cy both 
com urin stating, that I threatened to challenge him, *« if he had 
loaned pistols to Mr. IIandy,/ci?-//ie purpose oj being used a2;ainst 
me," This Wi.s theconditiou ujion which I was torha'longc him j 
but I was entirely exonerated from any obligation to rail on him 
upon that ground; because Jic says in Lis letter to Dr. Tcbbs, 



«' His true I did not know, or even suspect that the pistols were 
for Mr. HamUf.^* What then do Hiese certificates avail General 
Alason ? Nothinj^ except that tliey place liim in a most ludicrous 
situation, and fore ibiy exempliry the truth of the old proverb, 
** that a drowniuj^ man will catch at straws." He insists upon 
it that r was bound to execute the threat contained in the cer- 
tificates, because he positively denied having loaned the pistols 
to Mr, Handy. If, as the certificates state, I was pledged to 
challenge hira, if he loaned his pist(ds for a particular purpose, 
it certainly c.mnot be believed that I was under any obligation 
to challenge him. because he said he did not « know or even 
suspect" that they were intended for that purpose. According 
to his mode of reasoning, I was bound to challenge him for 
lending them, and bound to challenge him for not lending them. 

This logical conclusion affords a happy specimen of the <« in- 
tellectual endowments" of this qiKindam senator. But he fur- 
ther remarked in his letter to Dr. Tebbs, « that if he had known 
all the circumstances, he should have lent the pistols to Mri 
Handy." Fliis remark does not come under the threat ascri- 
bed to me in the certificates ; for by them I was pledged to 
cliallengo him, if he had already committed a particulai* act, and 
not pledged to challenge him for his avo%val that he would have 
committed that act '» if he had known all the circinnstances."' 
So that in no possible way can those certificates, to use his own 
iiVords, have *' entrapped me in my own toils." 

His insulting and unprovoked communications through Dr. 
Tebbs, forbidding ail communications between us, "either di- 
rectly or indirectly," except a <* direct challenge," can only be 
regarded as a direct iiivitaii on to me to challenge him. In ac- 
cepting that in\itati m. and in pi'escribing the terms, I in a for- 
mer publication said that «< I might possiUij have violated eti- 
quette." But tlie most mature reflection on (he subject has not 
enabled me to discover any diJference l)et\veen an invitation to 
challenge and an invitation to fight. The former generally leads 
to tlie latter, and an, ijivitation of the one, is in fact an invita- 
tion of th'^ other. This great << stickler' for " morality" can« 
not then deny tliat his communication was " morally" a chal- 
lenge at least ; a;i,l I am suppoited in the opinion that I Iiave 
not violated efiquclte by every gentleman acquainted wiih the 
laws of duelling, with wiiom i have conversed. When 1 receiv- 
ed this invitatio!!, 1 at once determined on my course, aud spoke 
in the presence of Or. 'i'ebbs of the character of the chaUcnge I 
(should send him in return. The Doctor replied, that he did not 
v^ishto hear ray determination, as a knowledge of it might possi- 
bly disqualify him fu!- taking his seat in the legislature. 1 conver- 
sed no more with him on tlie subject, but instantly wrote to my 
.?».*iend Mr. Dulauy, explained to him the circumsiances, arid re- 
quested his imnsediate attendance. — In a few days he arrived, 
and became the bctirer of the challengi- wiiich Gen. Mason has 



33 

jfejected. The conversation I had witli Mr. Humplireys, and 
which is in haste quoted in his second certifcatCt related solely to 
the threat which is contained in his Jirst ; but Gen. Mason at- 
teinptfi to produce the belief that I hes'itated about calling on him 
after I received his letter and message through Dr. Tebbs. This 
pitij'ul falsehood betrays, in proper colors, the real character of 
the boasting and contemptible puppy, with whom it has been my 
lot to come in collision. 

In one part of his " narrative of facts," he says, *' never did 
a poor devil do an act with more paiufiil reluctance, and with 
more awful and appalling apprehensions of the co/isez/wencM, thai» 
did Mr. John M'Carty put his trembling hand to an evasive chal- 
lenge against me." In another part he says, <* as it was not such 
a challenge as I ought to accept, he must have anticipated that I 
would object to those terms." Cogent reasoning this : I << anti- 
cipated" his rejection of the challenge; and yet fplitmy "trem- 
bling hand" to it with fearful and aj>pal!ing apprehensions of the 
consequences in w^hich his anticipated refusal to fight would in- 
volve me. Again — »< On 17th, the challenge was Iianded me by 
Mr. Dulany ; it dictated the terms upon which Mr. M'Carty, the 
challenger, would agree to fight; the first time this, I venture to 
affirm, since the age of chivalry began, that the challenger ever 
pretended to dictate the terms upon which he would agree to fight." 
It will be seen by what has passed, that 1 was amply justified in 
prescribing the terms ; but there are precedents which will incon- 
testibly prove that the terms have been presented by the chal- 
lenger, and that too when the challenge was uninvited. One 
example will be a sufficient illustration of the fact; and I state it 
on the authority of a gentleman of the highest respectability. Col. 
Magee, while stationed at Natchitoches, and acting as lieutenant 
in a corps of artillery, was challenged by a gentleman to fight 
him, with bi .ad swords. No objection was made by Col. Magee 
to 'lis prescribing the terms, and they met and fought. In the 
hope of imposing on the vulgar, and with them to extricate him- 
self from his present dilemma, he exultingly introduces into his 
** narrative of facts" all the circumstances of a duel he once 
fought, and « upon terms as desperate as Mr. M'Carty could 
have wished;" which terms, he says, would have been prescribed 
if I had challenged him in the usual way. The result of this 
duel shows, indeed, tlie equality as well as the desperation of 
the terms. They stood, he says, fifteen yards apart, w ith two 
pistids each, and were to advance and fire at pleasure By 
his first fire, " Mr. Noland was severely wounded," and he re- 
ceived that gentleman's two fires and " escaped unhurt ;" and 
yet he considers the terms as desperate and equal. If I had chal- 
lenged him to a contest of th;»t kind, and he could have gotten 
clear of his commission and fought, he would, most probably, 
have again " escaped unhurt'* on the field ; and I have shewn in 
a previous publicatiph the strongest reasons for jbelieving that ir 



• Si 

^e had survived, m^, the duelling law would have beeii repeale4 
■with regard to him<, while if I had killed him it would have heen 
evforced against me wiJh all its horrors; and hence I invited liim 
to meet me on' terms whJch Would have ensured dissolution to 
both. He now says that his principal reason for rejecting the 
chaUenge was that " lie had no security that a man of my cha- 
racter would not fire he^)re the word wajs ^istWf and this was the, 
reason which was withheld from my friend^ Mr. Dulamj, in cori' 
sideration of his feelings.*^ As he had stated that ho would <' ac- 
cept a challenge of the usual kind," ^nd that mine would be ac ■ 
«:!;epted " upon his being informed that it was modified," Mr, 
Dulany addressed a Fetter to his friend, Mr. Riist, about 9 o'clock 
the next morriin^ (l8Ui May.,) but which, ii) consequence of bad 
■^veather, was not delivered until the 19th, abbttt S o'clock., 
But dome little atJvantage is now wished to be gained by the date 
of this letter, and that too after Gen. Mason's own acknowledg- 
ment that it was received on the 19th. Observe, « mine is dated 
on the 181h, (he should have said antedated) his on the 20th" — 
this brings to mind again the oW proverb, 

n GEORGE RUST, Jr. Esq. 
Deau Sir, 

I am desired by my friend Mr. John M'Carty to say that General A. T. 
Mason having uiiequivccally rejected his communication, precludes the 
possibility of his receiving any further coinmunication, either directly or 
indirectly, from the General. Very respectfully, 

Alexandria, May 2()ih, 1818. JAS. H. DULANY. 

This letter bi'ing despatched inhiWting all commuiiication, «*di-. 
rer tly or indirectly," Mr. Dulany was no longer acting as my 
friend, and wishing^ before he returned to Alexandria, his place 
of residence, to visit his estate, near Middleburg — I accompani- 
ed hinT part of the way thither. On tVc 21st, I returned to Lees- 
biirg, and had no stipner arrived there, than I found it reported 
that gerncal Mason had now agreed to ft^ht, provided the governor 
tuoidd inform hini of the accepta^vcc of his commissien, and that ^ 
letter to that effect had been sent to Alexandria to Mr. Dulany.* 
This intelligence only strengthened my first determination to re- 
ceive from luin iio communication "'directly or indirectly," and 
I accordingly (as was known by Gen. Mason after he rcn-ived 



*Gen. Mason will find it difficult to produce a prrcedeht to 
sustain him in the hope that he will be rescued from the imputa- 
tion of cowaidicp, by the letter which he sent to Mr. Dulany 
three days after he i!ne,'[Uivocally rejected my chaltenge, and after 
the receipt of Mr. Ilulany's letter a»suring him he would receive 
from him "no conrmiinication either directly or indirectly." Thus 
it appears that he sent the letter, because he knew it woiitd not hq 
received. And after all this vaunting about it, it is discovered 
to be nothing more than a dcMerate rejection of my challen^^ 



^5 

>lr. Dulany's letter) rejected his frieiurs atlempta' tn comninn.e 
with me relative to himself, and proceeded to stigmatise him be. 
fore the public, with the bdioiis epithets he deserved. Rut let us 
examine those communications no\y before the public, and upon 
which he has rested all his hopes of temporal salvation. Wo aro 
informed by himself, that at sunrise on the 19th, two days after 
he had refused my challenge, he prepared a letter to Mr. Dulany, 
(antf dated only one day,) and which he no doubjt hopes the public 
will, in pity to h'm **last appeal" consider os an acceptance of 
my challenge. But let the epistle apprar in all the splendor of 
its "sunrise" auspices — ♦* And 1 now inform you, that as soon as 
I receive the governor's acceptance ofviy comjnission^ I will accept 
a challenge from Mr. John M'Carty, and meet and fight him on 
terms which he shall acknowleflge are equal." I know not hovy 
to express mij contempt for the cowardly ivretch who would thus 
prestme lipon a commisiion^ the resignation of which he <» ten- 
dered '* during the last wintfej', and the acceptance of which wa8 
refused by the (Grovernor; for it was returned ti» him, and he is 
again shielded by that impenetrable ceat of mail. If, when Mr.Rust 
mentioned 4his letter to me, I had received and read it, I should 
only have seen that what I h aid previously heard of it was correct, 
and should then have regarded it as 1 do now, a cjivardly suhter^ 
fuge. I wanted no greater triumph than I enjoyed iu liis entire 
prostration. I had xtiy foot upon Imncck, and 1 could not let hirti 
rise from the degraded state to which his cowardice had reduced 
fiim, upon the delusive promise that he would fight me, provided 
he could « receive the governor's acceptance of his commission." 
He might as well have said he would fight me, provided he could 
obtain his wife's consent. Publicity at this time had been given 
vio the subject. It had no doubt c^e this reached Richmond '*by 
express,'* and independent of the personal ipBuepce which on 
such an occasion he might have with the governor and council, 
someof whom are his intimate friends, they were bound by legal 
and 7)1 ora/ obligations not to accept his cortimission/or the purpose 
of enabling him to fight a duel. He therefore well kncv,- that the 
condition upon which he said he would meet me, o;i *< desperate 
terms/' could n£ver be complied with, and consequently his "sun- 
rise" epistle can only be construed as a positive and dchberate 
rejection of my challenge.— -Can the subject admit of a solitary 
doubt ? Can it be believed that the {governor Would, at this time, 
" accept the resignation of his commission," for the purpose of 
enabling him to fight a duel, whoii he refused to p.ccept it last 
winter, when there was no danger of his being involved in a duel 
(he haying declared that he woiild mibmit to a gioss insult rather 
Than challenge me) J It this ** maral " man had ever intended to 
accept my challenge, he would have considered his commission as 
♦< morally" resigned as soon as he sent it to the govcinor, and de- 
tcTmined no longer to hold it. That it would have been "morally" 
re?igne(!» no one can flonbt,and tho terms of the duel would havo 



56 

^cured us Irotii from the operation of legal penalties. This itr 
one view of the subject, admitting that his receipt of thegoyevn- 
or's acceptance of his commission was necessary to legalise its 
resignation ; hut it is susceptible of another, which will involve 
him still deeper in disgrace. Why make the receiptor the^o* 
vernor^s acceptance of his commission the condition upon which 
he would fight on «' equal term? ?'* It he had been disposed to 
fight, even at this late, hour, he would have said nothing about 
receiving the governor's acceptance, for he well knew that it was 
Hot necessary to hear from tlio governor on tlic subject, and that 
his commission was legally resigned as soon as he sent it to him, 
accompanied Uy a letter of resignati<iti. This the annexe^ law 
will shew. 

An act to amejid the militia larn's of this cqmmon'S.'ealth, passed Jan. 10, 1815. 

" Section 8. And be it further enacted, That any officer of the miUtia 
not under arrest at the time, may, zivhen ever he shall think proper, resign his 
commission, by tendering the same, accompanied by a letter of resignation^ 
to the governor, or to the commandant oi the regiment to which he may 
hplong." ■ •-, .. i . , . 

After this, he is welcome to all tlie credit he can get by his silhf 
ns\i\ contradictory letter i,o Mr. Dulany, and I will now proceed 
to the examination of that recited by Mr. Rust, in his third certi- 
Jicatey and which Gen. Mason pretends to 'hink will bolster up his 
fallen reputation: mark well what Mr. Rust says of it, for it shall 
be given in his own words, lii that letter he stated that "he 
would resign his commission, accept Mr, M'Carty's challenge, 
apd fight Ijini at three feet, or three inches if he preferred it, pror 
vided he could be seci^red against Mr. J\I'Ca.rty*s firing hefnrc 
the word was given, and thus assassinating him^"—¥oor timid 
creature ! The only plecge which it is possible for a man to give, 
<*'that he would not fire before the word is given," is his honor. 
That, from me, he deems insuflacient, and gives it, in his "last 
appeal," as an apology for not accepting my challenge. «< It would 
li;<ve been madness and folly to piit my life in the powerof a cow- 
ardly and (mprincipicd assassin, with no other security -than his 
honor.'^ So that the only pledge which it was j)C-S5:fe^e (for me 
to give on such an occasion, was the very one which it was im- 
possible lor liim to receive.. "The first time this, I venture to 
affirm; since the age of chivalry began," that security against 
assassination Avas evey "pretended'* to he askedj for, indepen^ 
ilently of the aecurity which is dmprie<J» General Mason had 
aniph' security in his friend, whose ^acre.d duty it would have 
been to have put me to instant death, if I had r^cted disfiouora- 
i)ly on tlie field. So that this is another dclibeTate rejeciion o( my 
terms ; for tlic proviso contained in the conclusion, destroys the 
first part of (he letter, and the Nvhole exhibits liim in the cjjarac- 
ler of a stupid, shvjiiing poltroon. But the marrow*, of the story 



3? 

is yet to come.— >An important « written rtii»tnbraiidum'* accom. 
panicd the letter, ■which is also embraced in Mr. Rost's iliird 
certificate, and by him tbus described : ♦* If Mr. M'Carty rejected 
that proposition, to inform him that Gen. Mason would, in order 
to terminate at once and forever a disgracefully protracted quar« 
pel, resign his commission and agree to become the challenger^ 
if he covld be assured that Mr M^Carty Tvonldfght on any terms 
lohich would not enable him to commit assassination withimpnnityi 
Mr. M<Carty could then prescribe the terms," &c. I had already 
prescribed tho terms, and his becoming the challenger he welt 
knew would noi change them. 

> This written memorandum is a copy in substance of the letter 
recited l)y ^Iv. Rust. The condition upon which he would fight, 
is the same in both, and the reasoning I have applied to theono 
Mill suit the otlitr. My challenge contained the only terms 
which would have placed me on an equality with Gen. Mason. % 
was warranted in prescribing them by the character of his pre- 
vious communication, and as he, both in the letter and "written 
memorandum," considers my honor no security against assassi- 
nation, he cannot believe that he ever thought oj accepting thoss 
terms. 
. Before I dismiss the two latter evidences of valor, I can as- 
sure Gen. Mason that if- 1 had ««en or heard of them three Weeks 
before I did, or indeed on the very day that ho refused my chal- 
lenge, I shnuld have considered them both as positive rejections 
of that challenge, 

I'iie anonymous cei tifcate contained in the <<narrative of facts," 
and upon which Gen. Mason dwells with considerable emphasis, 
scarcely needs a comment. His case must indeed be desperate^ 
when he adopts the ludicrous expedient of propping his charac- 
ter on the slender foundation of an anonymous statement. I re- 
fer the public to Mr. Edwards's second certificate, published in 
•the Washington ian of the 23d June, for an exjilanation of all the ' 
circumstances which led to the publication of tiie anonymous cer- 
tificate. It will bft foundiby Mr. Edwards's statement that when 
t^e last i;ientioned certificate was presented to Dr. Wilson for his 
signatui'c, that he would not sis;H it, and said '< he did not see the 
neressity of his giving a certiticate at all; but that if it was in 
sisted upoHi he wouUl.\give one saying that he took the letter?, 
left them at his house, and waited on Mr. M*Carty, telling him 
that he had sucli in his possession, which he could see or read if 
he wished t« do so: that Mr. INI' C arty immediately asked if 
ti.>ey were the same Mr. Rust had tlte eveniiig before: that he told 
him he believed tliey were, he haviii,':^ just received them from Mr, 
]<u^t; that Mr. M'Carty refused to receive any comniunicatiGr^ 
tvom Gen. Masdn. saying it was too late." Anc! this, it will ap- 
pear fromMr. Edwards's statement, was the only certificate which 
Jtr. If'ilson v:ovld agree to sign. 

T^c same statement will show that T)r, Wilson never said T 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



^^ • 011 836 842 3 < 

told him (as is stalld in the anonymdus certificate) ««that Gen. 
Mapon was nor bound to acnept my challenge on the terms pre- 
scribed, but that on such an occasion he ought to have waived 
etiquette ;"— but, on the contrary, Mr. EdwaHls distinctly says 
that all the Doctor said before himself and Mr.Rust on that sub- 
ject was only in telation to the remarks contained in my first 
publication, jn which I state that I might possibly have violated 
etiquette, &c. But observe Mr. Bklwards's own recital of Dr. 
Wilson's remarks : ^^and as to that part abmit waiving etiquettei, 
it is not necessary fiW me to say any thing ahoiiVrt,fnr Mi.M^Car-' 
ty in his piece admits about the sanis.^* Thus it is shewn by Mr. 
Edwarda that what Dr. Wilson sAid was only in reference to 
3Dy own remarks about etiquette, and which were then before the 
public. Dr. Wilson's statement of the 23d June, contains a re- 
oitftl of what passed bet» een us relative to the Jetter left with 
liim by Mr Rust, the folly and stupidity of which letter I have 
already exposed. 

What excuse, I will ask, has be now left? As he has made 
his *♦ last appeal,'* we can expect nothing more from him. But 
i:nme apoh'gy must be made foi* this crest follen champion, as the 
letter to Mr. Dulany, that recited btj Mr. Rust, and the written 
mcmorarjdum. have till been proved by tlje clearest evi<U^nce to 
be only (^elib' rate confirmations of his first refusal of the chal- 
lenge. Wie might expect a fev/ vindicatory essays, or perhaps 
sim»ther handbill " bearing his staaip,'* but signed *♦ Editor Ge- 
:niusLit)erty;'* but imfortunatejy, «"Gen. Mason has no influence 
over that press !" He cannot conceal his exultation at my ha- 
ving vacated my seat i'.i tli? l;\£^islature : his witty story of the 
^* candid" quaker betray;; ihat^^s^j^ation. But let him recol- 
lect that in obtaining thiit tr.umpu ue lias disgraced himself. An 
attentive perusal of the enii/c correspondence between General 
Mason and myself, will i^xbihit his cJiaracter in all its naked de- 
firmity. I owe an apology to the public for noticing at all his 
disgusting details. 

Ti;is MisEKABiiE cowAPB tij'pd ao longer employ his emissa- 
ries* to "tojTify tiKiid woiiiti; and children •" even they ^ for the 
future, will be more amused than alarmed at his vainglorious va^ 
porioB;. He is now humbled in the dust, where 1 hope to take 
juy leave of liii^i. JOHN M. M'CARTY. 

LceshuTg, June 9.7, IZ\^. 



* A white servant in the family of Gem Magon.tohl his uifcj 
most probably at liis "instigation," that tie wafJ"abo*ikt to fight a 
duel. The leport was iudustriouHy. t'lrcukited, till all the " wo- 
men and cliijdrcn'^" of several families were in a state of alarm. 



•• 



I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



01 1 836 842 3 ♦ 



